![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pumpkinhollow) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ph_memes2025-07-12 10:48 pm
TDM #11 - Unrestrained Summer Fun [FIRST REPRINT]
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
6/13/25 | TDM #11 - Unrestrained Summer Fun [First Edition]
Summer Pokémon Types - Fighting, Water, Fire, Dragon
WELCOME TO PUMPKIN HOLLOW
By Yorick Aberdeen
The crop for which the town is named.
Blessed summer, Pumpkin Hollow! Kora’s season is fully upon us, which means that it’s time for sun, sea, and seasonally appropriate supernatural incidents! (Hopefully less of that last one, but you know how it is around here.) This is also the time of year when we celebrate the anniversary of the very first offworld ferry to arrive in Pumpkin Hollow. We will be forever grateful for the mysterious ferryman and his deliveries of diverse and wonderful new community members. This place certainly is livelier after two whole years!
If you’ve just landed on the island, welcome! You’ve made it just in time for such wonderful summer festivities as the Cucumber Festival and the Summer Solstice celebration on the beach. You may also spot our local summer goddess, Kora of Summer and Sea, around town!
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!
SUMMER WEATHER REPORT
By Phil Connors
Stunning art of Tawny Beach
Get ready for Nature’s big party! Summer is the season of being a little too cozy with the big fireball in the sky, so it’ll be our longest days and shortest nights yet. The temperatures will mostly be warm and mild, but don’t let your guard down! We’ll still get the occasional heat wave, and summer thunderstorms can roll in fast. Even still, the fauna and flora are lush and alive, and the generally-mild weather and long light means it’s the perfect time to spend all day outside. Go grab your friends and have a party, go on a hike, or spend the day at the beach! Just make sure you bring bathing suits in case things get wet and wild. Yes, to your backyard barbecue too.
UNDERWATER TREASURE HUNT OFFERED BY CALLOWAY'S CURIOS
By Timothy Stoker
An eerie scene.
Toward the end of May, one of our local fishing vessels made a surprising discovery using their on-board dredging equipment. The Mipha’s Grace, operated by Captain Zelda of Hyrule, has been commissioned by local oddities shop Calloway’s Curios for several years to do periodic “dredge days” in search of rare curiosities that may have been lost to the sea. While they often turn up small bits of underwater treasure and unusual objects, even the occasional artefact, it would appear that this most recent dredge has unearthed (unoceaned?) an entire shipwreck at the bottom of the Black Jade Sea.
While Gil Calloway, the owner of Calloway’s Curios, had a professional diver in his employ at one point some time ago, he currently has no such staff to retrieve the items. As such, he has decided instead to turn the shipwreck into a paid attraction. Because that can’t possibly go wrong, can it?
For the low, low price of 100 Brass, you can don a pair of goggles, down a Potion of Water Breathing, and take up a handy harpoon to try your luck at finding sunken treasure in the cracked hull of the Ruthless Advance. You can keep any treasure you find--- or sell it to Calloway. Likely for a fraction of the price he’ll sell the damn thing for later. Try not to die! But if you do, you can always have another go tomorrow.
BLUE ISLAND CRABS MAKE LANDFALL FOR LONGEST HATCHING SEASON ON RECORD
By Melanie King
There's a whole family of them that have knives now.
It's that time of year again, Hollowites: crab season is upon us, and this year it's looking to be a long one. Blue Island Crabs are infesting the island in record numbers, scurrying up from the beach and into your homes. Any open window, door or unbuttoned pocket is an invitation that they will happily exploit so that they can steal your stuff—yes, yours. Height is no barrier to them, they'll stack themselves up like a human tower. So if you think you're safe, think again, and check your locks.
This reporter has lost three styluses and one lunch already, plus keeps having to stop her cat from picking fights he can't win (I think his title gives him illusions of grandeur). If you find yourself being harassed by these pinchy blue menaces—grab a broom or something, you're kind of on your own with this one. Good luck!
THINGS IN PARADESIUM GET WET, WILD, AND WEIRD THIS SUMMER
By Timothy Stoker
In the words of an ancient proverb from this reporter's homeworld: YOLO
Seems we’re full of unusual discoveries this issue of the Gazette! According to a report to the Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety from early June, local mine worker Ellen Ripley stumbled upon a new tunnel into Paradesium that led to some unique structures while looking for a secluded cave. (She did not specify to what end she was looking for said seclusion, but it is worth noting that Constable CT, head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, was with her at the time of the report. Do with that information what you will.)
For those unfamiliar, Paradesium is the name of a magical subterranean jungle located beneath Crane’s Ridge that was discovered some time last year. It has already proven to be full of numerous interesting things such as exotic creatures, magical stones, tropical fruit, healing herbs, and ancient ruins once belonging to a long-lost clan of Bedrock Dwarves. It is also home to your beloved neighbor and mine, Emersay the Sphinx. However, this new side entrance seems to house yet-undiscovered features that struck Ripley, 30, as “kind of resort-like”.
Inspectors from the Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety, accompanied by a few volunteers with more modern eyes, have investigated the large campus of structures and have determined it to be a water park. This is further supported by the wooden signage at the tunnel entrance, which bears the phrase, “ACTION PARK PARADESIUM.” Apparently, the number of water rides set up there appear to be functional, if not a bit ramshackle, and even have running water that no one has been able to turn off. Safety Board members advise people to stay away from the park, as it is currently not staffed and has yet to be thoroughly inspected for adherence to safety regulations. But they’re also not telling you that you can’t, if you’re feeling adventurous. They don’t have the authority to fire me for saying so. Stay safe!
GIANT WATERMELON CLAIMS MAIN STREET
By Phil Connors
There are worse problems to have, at least.
You’ve probably seen the new addition to the Square by now. Most people have. “Is it real,” you might ask, and the answer is yes: a giant watermelon the size of Town Hall has appeared in the middle of town, here to quote an anonymous member of our staff as “a four-storey sticky-fest.” We’re not really sure what to do with several tonnes of water weight on Pumpkin Hollow’s front porch, but what’s a watermelon good for… except eating?
That’s right, grab your spoons and your scoops! No one’s going hungry for the rest of the season, because we’re chowing down! Some people have even decided on a more creative route: this reporter is looking out of the window of the news station and can see people carefully carving out some melon windows and melon furniture already. Next thing you know, we’re going to have a rival melon radio. Luckily, none of it seems to be going bad, so feel free to keep going until all of it is gone. Please.
INFAMOUS "TURNIP WITCH" NO LONGER AT LARGE
By Yorick Aberdeen
The culprit!
Breaking news! Two years after an infamous curse ruined the 16:53 Cucumber Festival by turning all the cucumbers into turnips, the notorious “Turnip Witch” has at last been identified as Yvette Ovoshchnoy. An extremely prolonged and arduous manhunt had nearly gone cold before mischievous cackling was overheard by the supernaturally acute hearing of Pumpkin Hollow Postal Service employee Kelaiah “Godpoke” Voxx while on their normal mail route. They discovered the home of the trouble-making turnip terror in the side of Crane’s Ridge near the notably dangerous Lake Sal-Co-Penn. Their filing of a request for a formal address to be established for the remote abode with the post office led to an investigation, which uncovered evidence of illegal vegetable magic taking place on the premises. Warrant in hand, the Pumpkin Hollow Constables were finally able to arrest Ovoshchnoy. She is currently awaiting trial for repeated instances of vegetation perpetration, with charges including tampering with community resources, violating magical consumables regulations, and obstruction of town functions.
Further investigation has revealed that Ovoshchnoy, 36, comes from a long line of Ozhivetan farming hedge mages. She is the first of her name to incorporate baneful magic into her family’s traditional practice, however, and immigrated to Pumpkin Hollow before the barrier, apparently on the lam for a massive chickpea heist in Evgiakti. When asked if she had anything to do with the giant watermelon in Town Square, Ovoschnoy made an obscene gesture at the reporter on scene with both hands and a “really wet fart noise,” according to Tim. “Like seriously, it was absolutely disgusting,” he continues. Regardless, justice is served for vegetables everywhere with the so-called Turnip Witch at last in custody.
Page 1
Shipwreck
[CW: art of spider-like creature contained in link]
The Wreck of the Ruthless Advance can be found just off the northwest side of the island, near the base of Ripjaw Falls. Rides out that way are available just once per day, in the early morning aboard the Mipha’s Grace. Captain Zelda is a DTNPC, meaning a formerly played character that was converted to an NPC upon drop rather than removed from the game. You may use her in your threads as you deem appropriate.
Once you arrive, the Mipha’s Grace crew will lower you into the water in a dinghy. The wreck’s location is marked by a buoy to which your boat can be anchored with the provided rope. You have a small vial filled with effervescent blue liquid, the color that the sea looks in dreams. Tropical fruit flavored, for your convenience. Down it to gain the ability to breathe underwater, then don your provided waterproof goggles and grab your net bag and harpoon, and descend into the water.
Resting peacefully on the seafloor, the corpse of a massive ship can be found, broken and battered. The side of it still bears its name in intimidating black font. The Ruthless Advance. How long has she slept here?
The interior is vast and dangerous, eerie and devoid of life or even death. No fish nor human remains can be found. Not even a stray bone. But there is hidden treasure, and, for those with worse fortunes, something lurking in the darkness. Something that yearns to be close to you. Something that will never leave you alone. Your new Constant Companion.
Once it latches on to you, the Constant Companion will follow you until you are completely out of the water. Despite its smallness, your boat is safe. You can kill the Companion, but unlike other creatures, it returns to life immediately. You have precisely 90 seconds before it reappears. It is best to flee.
Oh, and try not to get the bends. You are still susceptible to decompression sickness!
Roll a D20 to see how you fare.
20 - You find 1000 Brass! You also find a beautiful piece of jewelry or a vintage but well-crafted metal weapon, seemingly untouched by time.
19-16 - You find five bits of pretty treasure in good condition, which can be kept or sold to Gil Calloway for 100B each. You don’t have to sell all of it.
15-14 - You find a small, handheld item from your homeworld. It is waterlogged and crusted with salt, but not so damaged that it can’t be salvaged with some care. The item should be non-magical or have a small, simple, just-for-fun magic. If it is a weapon, it can’t be longer than your forearm. Otherwise, it’s up to you.
13-10 - You find 200B and a really cool seashell. You doubled your money and came away with a souvenir!
9-5 - You found some interesting junk. It’s not worth anything. But it’s pretty cool. Flip a coin to determine if you encounter the Constant Companion (heads no, tails yes) or decide for yourself if you’d like to!
4-2 - You found 500b worth of treasure, but you also found the Constant Companion. You may lose some or all of your treasure in your escape attempt!
1 - You found nothing but danger. You do not survive your encounter with the Constant Companion and spend the rest of the day as a ghost. However, when you return to life the following morning, you wake up on the beach, inexplicably finding yourself with a prize of your choice from those listed above! (If you choose the 20 prize, the amount of Brass is halved to 500, but you can still have the jewelry or weapon.)
Each character may only OOCly pay the 100B for a dive and claim a prize once per release of this TDM (3 times in total if present for all three months it runs), but ICly they can go multiple times if the player wants. Divers are strongly encouraged to go in pairs, and pairs of divers can roll once for a prize they both get (does not need to be split) or roll per diver for different prizes. Good luck!
Action Park
Welcome to Action Park Paradesium!
The entrance to the park can be found in the base of Crane’s Ridge, west of the train station. (Going east will land you at Lake Sal-Co-Penn, so be careful not to get turned around.) There is a warning sign near the entrance posted by the Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety instructing residents to keep away… but a water park in an underground jungle? On a high fantasy Victorian gothic island? It might be a little hard to resist.
There’s no sunlight here, but the glittering glow of magical crystals simulate the summer sun in glimmering rays, and Paradesium’s tropical heat only increases the illusion. There are thatched cabanas and lounge chairs to enjoy, a changing room helpfully equipped with towels and swimwear of all sizes and even in more modern styles (you can OOCly choose the design), and even refreshment stands. They appear to be unmanned, each one equipped with a bell that says “ring for service” that summons no one. However, if you happen to speak what you’d like to order aloud after ringing the bell, you will find what you requested simply appears on the counter in front of you! Amazing! You don’t even have to pay for your soggy fries or sad nachos. Interestingly, all of the signage and food packaging has a 1980’s feel to its design.
The park itself seems to be built around and into the sides of a small rock feature, which resembles a miniature mountain. It’s dotted with lush flowers, moss, and palm trees that stick out between pathways, carved stone stairs, apparently man-made pools, and time-period-inappropriate fiberglass tubes.
There are a number of rides here. None of them seem particularly safe. But only some of them seem to be cursed or haunted.
The Grave Pool - The sign on it is supposed to say “wave pool”, but it has been vandalized to bear the aforementioned ominous nickname. This deep pool of water, equipped with setting-inappropriate inner tubes, pool noodles, and boogie boards, often stands completely still. However, whenever swimmers enter the pool, after about five minutes some sort of mechanism will begin making artificial waves. The deeper in you are, the higher the waves, and they grow in intensity and frequency before abruptly stopping after about ten minutes. Apparently this is intended to be fun.No aspect of the park has any charges associated with it. The swimsuits and towels are free to use, as are the boogie boards, inner tubes, sleds, pool noodles, and the crappy “ACTION PARK PARADESIUM” t-shirts in the gift shop, and absolutely nothing is stopping you from taking any of them. Why the hell not? If this place is going to give you emotional damage or a traumatic brain injury, you might as well get some free snacks and a pool noodle.
The Skoot Chutes - A trio of slides consisting of metal chutes whose bottoms are lined with cylindrical steel factory rollers, like one might find on an assembly line. Water runs over the rollers from the top of the slides. Riders are equipped with a hard wooden sled, and infographic signs near the upper platform indicate a very particular way riders ought to sit. One might imagine the consequences of not sitting properly on one’s sled.
Backbreaker Falls - A row of relatively simple-looking body slides. They seem innocuous enough--- a steep drop with several small hills on the way down, seemingly intended for multiple riders to race on. However, the water pressure is high and the sides are low, making it very easy to fly out of one’s own lane or be flung into the splash pool violently. Some riders may also come away with small cuts, having slid over something sharp wedged in between the slide’s fiberglass sections. Are those… teeth? Eugh.
Unsocket Swings - Near the splashpool for Backbreaker Falls, there is a sort of rocky grotto made to look like a natural pool. Alongside several cliff-dive spots, there are also a handful of rope swings with wooden bars tied to the bottom to grab onto, allowing guests to swing and leap into the grotto below. These swings, however, have an uncanny tendency to yank a bit on the downswing in a way that is hard on the shoulders, earning these swings their name.
Hellsmouth Lazy River - An oddly ominous name for a lazy river, this looping lap-pool carries innertube-riding patrons on a strong current. Several small waterfalls are positioned along the course to potentially spray riders, but it is otherwise a relaxing way to tour the park. Unless, of course, you float down the part of the river that cuts through the mountain on which the park is built. Labeled “The Tunnel of Terror,” this long cave is extremely dark, and filled with frightful sights of the players’ choosing. What will you find in the mouth of hell? A tunnel of living, breathing flesh? A seemingly endless, incomprehensible void that unravels the mind? A cave of skittering insects? An abstract creature stalking you through the dark? Feel free to use these suggestions or create your own hell! The world is your terrible, terrible oyster.
Whiplash - An enclosed pipeline of a tube slide with many sharp twists and turns, the Whiplash boasts an impressive length and the highest upper landing. Riders climb into figure-8-shaped double inner tubes to ride down in pairs, descending into darkness on a fast-moving current. The light behind you quickly fades into nothing… and then, from behind you, you hear something else. In the darkness, a pair of human-like eyes with blown pupils and burning white sclera are situated over two rows of long white teeth. It’s hard to see its oil slick form in the darkness, but you can tell that it has many, many hands, and that it’s coming--- fast. Unarmed, wet, and trapped in the tube, you have only your downward descent to rely on in escaping from the creature. Work together to swerve through tight turns and speed down the Whiplash as fast as possible--- or meet the business end of those teeth, and a grisly fate.
Cannonball Loop - The most dangerous attraction here is probably the least haunted. It’s an enclosed-pipe body slide featuring a full loop in it that feels more like a thing you ride to survive for bragging rights than to enjoy. Just looking at it feels like a bad idea. There are at least three different spots in the slide that have escape hatches, and probably none of them are where you will need them to be if you ride this monstrosity and get stuck.
Create your own! - Players are welcome to invent their own Action Park rides, both magical and benign. Have fun!
Giant Watermelon
Definitely created by the Turnip Witch, this enormous watermelon seems resistant to bugs and rot (thank the goddesses), but not to stickiness. It’s the kind of juicy that would be a thrill to find in a slice of watermelon at a picnic, but significantly less so taking up an entire major street. It also seems to slowly regenerate when not being actively eaten or carved, which means that a fair bit of watermelon returns overnight. Removing chunks of melon from the main body of the watermelon will cause time’s normal impact on the stability and stinkiness of fruit to resume, so taking large portions home is not a viable strategy and will ensure that you get ants. But hey, free watermelon!
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 who has at least one type that matches the list at the top of the newspaper, or that can evolve into one. (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!
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS/CONCERNS
Kora | Local NPC, Goddess of Sea and Summer | ~4 Billion
-Beach Bum-
Most evenings, there is a woman lying on the beach in one of the aging wooden public-use chairs. Her feet are buried in the sand, long legs exposed by slits in billowing blue and white skirts, and an enormous feathered hat is pulled down to shade her face. Interestingly, the crabs don't seem interested in bothering her. Not out of fear--- they still hang out around her. But despite her inattentive demeanor, bottle of liquor in hand, and numerous trinkets, they don't steal from or even pester her. Seems like one even fell asleep by her leg.
If she sees someone approach, she'll raise her bottle in a toast. "Ahoy there! Here to enjoy the waves?"
-Action Park-
There is a joyful shouting coming from the Skoot Chutes.
Raven hair streaming out behind her, a woman in knee-length trousers and a linen shirt with the sleeves and midriff ripped off sails down on a wooden sled. She looks delighted, utterly confident in her riding skills as she rockets down the chute. She hits the upward curve and arcs into the air, flying gracefully towards the splash pool below and----
Completely wipes out, pitching forward and landing on her face in the water.
But still, she comes back up laughing, waving to whoever just watched her beef it. "Hello! I've been hoping I'd run into a riding buddy. Want to go on the big one with me?"
Dr. Moira O’Deorain | 50 | Overwatch 2
Why surrender to fate, when I have seen firsthand that my will can be made manifest?
Tall, imposing, with hair like fire and mismatched eyes, the good doctor would make quite an impression walking down the street if she weren't already sharing a setting with artificial life forms, highly intelligent animals, and beings of dubiously supernatural nature. She doesn't stick out horribly in Pumpkin Hollow, either.
Dr. O' Deorain doesn't try to make small talk as she heads down the road towards the Oak and Iron, nor does she idly make eye contact with those she passes by. Still, who's to say she'd brush off a local who happened to say hello? But her focus, her objective, is to get to a secure place, a roof over her head, and baseline resources. From there, perhaps she consider what merits might be found in idle gossip.
An Exceptional Specimen
Fascinating. Of all the traits the species might have selected for, "the ability to wield knives" was not one Moira would have anticipated in a seemingly-wild crustacean population- nor could this be explained, she thinks, by the interbreeding of crabs trained domestically to wield knives with their wild counterparts. Knife wielding behavior is not itself a genetic trait, even if an aptitude for knives can be supported by various physical and cognitive factors.
Then again, the population of Austrailia may be genuinely selecting for knife ability, but she's only got a generation or two of data to work off of on that subject. The genetic trajectory of Junker culture is, for the moment, both irrelevant and inconclusive.
She's equal parts tempted to capture them and to simply follow them around, observing while causing minimal disturbance. For now, the latter seems to be the plan.
An Exceptional Specimen... Again
At this point, she's making idle chit-chat to the ends of getting herself a jar and, though she knows it's a long-shot, silica gel. She needs to get a sample of this melon and sufficiently dehydrate it until she has a proper lab up and running. She isn't about to let this mystery melon's miraculous nature elude her.
Wildcard
[Hit me!]
Arrival
He stares for a moment or two, hands perched on the end of the table, before he finally speaks in a voice one wouldn't expect to come from a giant rectangle.
is that Tim Curry"HELLO! I DO APOLOGIZE IF I'M INTERRUPTING ANYTHING BUT I'M RATHER ME HERE SO..."
A pause to drum his cartoony-gloved fingers against the table and his bottom screen almost curls slightly into a frown.
"... I'M EMBARRASSED TO ADMIT I'M A BIT LOST ON EVERYTHING."
no subject
"I'm afraid I have little assistance to offer. I'm rather a newcomer myself."
Pause.
"I can't say I'm familiar with your particular configuration."
no subject
His noodley arms extend so he can lean against one hand.
"HMM? MY CONFIGURATION? OH. I'M A MONSTER BUILT ROBOT. NOTHING TO WORRY YOURSELF OVER!"
He remember some of his specs but. Uh. That isn't super important to him.
"ARE YOU A MECHANIST BY CHANCE, IF YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH ROBOTICS?"
no subject
no subject
Wildcard?
Siebren is dressed like the locals, neat linen and sturdy canvas, his cybernetics visibly altered by the arcane nature of the Emerald Isles. Still, the man would be unmistakable even if he wasn't flying. He looks worried about something, which is hardly unusual, fingertips toying nervously with the hem of his shirt.
no subject
Stay calm, stay calm, don’t let him see that you’re afraid. If he sees you panicking, he’ll start to panic, and things will only get more out of control. Act like you have things completely under control. Radiate confidence.
no subject
He knows this woman, Doctor O'Deorain. He knows he shouldn't trust her, for reasons that aren't entirely clear. He also knows he should trust her, and the contradiction sits uneasily as he returns the greeting with a small wave and an awkward smile.
"Ah, hello! I would like to go to the blacksmith!" Siebren announces, hoping the doctor has a better sense of the town's layout than his own.
no subject
no subject
Doctor O'Deorain is a doctor. Depending how much of her technology is intact, that could be exactly what he's looking for!
"Actually, ah, how much do you know about Pokemon?"
no subject
An Exceptional Specimen- Crabs!
"Hey!" he calls out to her, "Little help?" He already tried shooting them but he ran out of bullets and barely hit any of his targets first.
no subject
Three Characters, Details Below | OTA
After successfully demonstrating at summer camp how to bake bread in a pot in the ashes of a campfire, Zivia has decided to finally take a step she's been contemplating for some time, and propose a cooperative baking partnership of sorts to Max Maximum. This decision sees her stepping into his new cafe, waiting until he's got a free moment, and broaching the subject with "So ... do you by any chance know how to bake bagels?"
Over the next couple of weeks, you might encounter Zivia making some slightly unusual purchases in town: sprouted barley, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, huge amounts of white and whole-wheat flour, two very large mixing bowls, an alarmingly large stockpot, and -- if any place in town carries them -- a spider. Want to ask what she's doing?
So Cassandra has recently come into possession of a startling magic item: a hand-held device that creates something very like an Arcane Gate spell. She's been testing it here and there about town, cautiously at first -- creating portals fairly close to one another and tossing a pebble through -- then experimenting with surfaces at different heights and different angles to each other. She's still mostly putting objects through, but occasionally, more daringly, stepping or hopping through herself.
And, perhaps inevitably, at some point she winds up studying the sign about the shipwreck and wondering idly whether this device will work underwater.
Edgar's also contemplating the shipwreck and the potential for exploring it. He's not very good at swimming, but the part he's not good at is keeping his head above water; if he can breathe water, he reasons, then that part's less important, isn't it?
You might find him by the water, on the days he isn't helping at the summer camp (in a tag that hasn't gone up yet <.<), considering the possibilities. Or, if you talk him into it, maybe you can explore the wreck together.
[OOC: Three characters, one player, one prompt! Please specify which of them you're tagging in for, and by all means feel free to wildcard any of them -- hit me up on discord or surprise me!]
Hello Edgar!
He hadn't believed anything about the advertisement when he first saw it. A magical potion that would let you go loot an undersea shipwreck? It sounded like a con. The operation was making money, but the magic had seemed implausible. Drugging would-be treasure hunters made more sense, getting them suggestible enough to trick them and just letting them splash around in the water for a while.
That was the simplest explanation, but it turned out the world was more honest and wild than Stefan had expected. He'd been talked into it, he'd actually breathed water, and he'd come back with treasure from the wreck. He'd been able to get himself more comfortably established from that. And thanks to Shen Qingqiu's money, he had an extra bottle of the potion he was holding onto. He'd be better-prepared for a second dive, as long as he had a partner for it. Lucky for him, a likely candidate had just arrived.
"It's dangerous down there," Stefan said, gesturing with his half-eaten sandwich. "They don't tell you what to watch for down there. But it's doable. Made a tidy profit off of it. I wouldn't go alone, though. Need someone to watch your back?"
no subject
no subject
no subject
His experience with spiders is, admittedly, minimal.
no subject
He extended a hand. "The name's Stefan Richter. Just came in on the ferry last month."
no subject
no subject
"Then you might've seen when the ship came in," Stefan said. "Shen Qingqiu told me a flood happened about a year ago, some ship full of monsters made landfall. His theory is this other one didn't make it to shore." there were some other things he'd said that Stefan wasn't so sure of - or at least didn't want to believe literally. But given the condition of the wreck, about a year of accumulated grime and sea creatures made sense.
"If you made it through that incident in one piece, then you'll probably do fine down there. You interested?"
no subject
He considers the suggestion for a moment; looks at the new acquaintance, out at the ship, back at the man.
"Yeah, all right," he says finally. "You been once already -- get a good look at the place?"
no subject
Good. This gave him an excuse to do what he'd already been planning on today. "Then I'm all set to go," Stefan said, starting toward the Mipha's Grace. He had the brass for the fee in his pocket, and he could finish his lunch on the way out. "There's been others taking their shots at the wreck since then. We can hit some of the areas I think they might've missed."
no subject
If Stefan wants a bigger share of the take for being a guide, he isn't necessarily opposed, but wants to find out now.
Hot bread summer!
"Yes, I do. Sorry, they're sold out for the day already, but I'm planning on starting a new batch later. Did you want me to hold some for you when I do?"
no subject
Hither and Thither
"Yeah, but I didn't," he replies casually as he starts to refill. Then, louder, to Cassandra, "Oh, Hey Cass. You look like you're planning something. What 'cha up to?"
no subject
no subject
no subject
She looks at him again, struck by a thought. "Does that device function underwater at all?"
Jimmy | Mouthwashing | 32
Somewhere nearby where the Giant Watermelon is, for a few days, Jimmy will go out every morning and set up two pens under large umbrellas, each pen has several bowls of water as well. And inside those pens will be baby bunnies. Female on one side, Male on the other... as best as Jimmy has been able to tell, at least. Trying to sex baby bunnies is an imperfect science, and he's not a master at it by any means.
Have I mentioned that he just has entirely too many rabbits on his hand? There's a sign nearby where Jimmy's set himself up a seat, it reads the following:
"Free Rabbits. Good for pets or farming. Not for showing.
Sex of Rabbits not guaranteed. Neuter and spay your pets."
Jimmy will be sitting around, looking tired and weary, and not like he really wants to be there, or near anyone, really, waiting for anyone to approach him about the fact that he is now the main provider of rabbits in Pumpkin Hollow and it was entirely by accident.
And yes. He will feed them some of the Watermelon, thank you very much.
[ An idealic evening...? ]
In one of the evenings, after he's gotten the rabbits who haven't been adopted for the day home, instead of just heading straight to be he feels strangely restless. So he heads outside and leaves his farm.
Jimmy doesn't really know where he's going, but when he ends up there, at the beach, the waves crashing up on the beach, the sun setting in the distance, he isn't sure if he should laugh or grimace to himself.
The last time he saw a setting like this was on a big monitor which was supposed to simulate the real thing. With an axe through it. Though even without the damage the axe had caused it had felt more oppressive to be surrounded by a huge screen rather than calming.
But now he can feel the wet soggy damp air on his clothes that needed to be washed yesterday. A slight breeze that moves through his hair and manages to briefly skim the back of his neck, making that spot that's still soaked with sweat feel a moment of reprieve from a days hard work.
He realizes that this is actually nice. Genuinely nice.
And that he doesn't deserve a goddamn minute of it.
Bunventure
“Not much use telling people to slay and neuter their rabbits if you aren’t going to separate them out, unless they do so promptly.”
She picks up one of the rabbits with a surprising amount of competency; most people don’t know how to pick up a rabbit, but she’s clearly done this a hundred times before. She looks the creature over, then seems to nod in approval.
“I’ll take this one, and be back for another. Would you like assistance in sexing your rabbits, Mr…?”
no subject
But it's about the rabbits today. He sighs, tries to let it roll off his shoulders, he's only halfway successful, but he always seems a little grumpy, to be fair.
"Jimmy, just Jimmy." He says, standing up, "And no, I might be new to farming and all of this but I think I got most of them right. It's just next to impossible to be one hundred percent sure when they're young like this."
Plus, the mentions of intersex rabbits... basically to Jimmy's mind, Rabbits that could look male to him but could still have a chance of getting pregnant? And it's not even uncommon? That library book he took out ages ago is ruined by him making notes of the most important passages. He's never going to be able to return it now...
no subject
John Crichton | Farscape | Mid-30's | Current player character
Crichton recently won F.L.U.D.D. as his prize at the Pickle King Day raffle, and he's been a menace around town with it ever since. But, hey? Where better to play with a giant water jetpack than in a waterpark of dubious safety?
"Cowabunga dude!!" he cries out from above as he uses the water jet to shoot up into the air above the wave pool, only to let himself drop into the water cannon ball style.
He's just as reckless on the slides, using the FLUDD water jets to rocket off of them like ramps, and to far exceed the speed he should be going on these things.
"WHOO!!! YEEHAW!" he hollers, mid-air, as he launches off the backbreaker falls like a bat out of hell. How has this man not concussed himself?
Just when it seems he can't get any more death defying, he sets his eyes on that looping tube slide. "Bet I could make it." A good friend would talk him out of trying, but his best friends know to go grab the camera and start recording.
Lord Erik Osborne | OC | 1000+ years old (looks roughly 27) | Current character player [slight nsfw]
His usual business (premier town whore) has been a little slower lately since people have a lot of options for entertainment when the weather is this nice, but that's okay because he's come up with a new service to offer.
"Going to the shipwreck?" he asks from his place on the dock where he waits for anyone who looks to be headed out on Mipha’s Grace. "For only 50B plus 5% of whatever you find, I could accompany and protect you from the dangers below. I need no oxygen to live and I see perfectly in the dark. What do you say?"
The offer is posted on the bulletin board as well. Any takers? It's a small price to pay for good protection, after all.
Max Maximum | OC | 30's - Current Player - Come get your coffee shop AU
[OOC Note: I'm still putting together an official info post about what the cafe looks like/offers, etc. For now picture a quaint French corner cafe attached to the bakery building with through traffic, and a nice patio space that's fenced in and covered. The color theming is all bright royal blue with gold and pumpkin orange trim.]
Summer Specials!
In honor of Max winning Pickle King this year, he has created some limited time specials. Such offerings include salted dill macarons with cream cheese filling, grilled cheese with extra pickles, fried pickles on a stick with mustard, and, most horrifying of all, dill pickle cheesecake(Video). One need not wonder why these items are on limited run.
For those who may be looking for a more normal kind of special, Max is also taking advantage of that huge watermelon in the square to infuse many of his summer specials with watermelon flavors, too. He's offering watermelon smoothies or juicers, watermelon dipped in dark chocolate on a stick, sides of the fruit with yogurt and honey, and just simple slices of it with any entre at no charge. (Doesn't feel right to charge for a free resource, after all.)
"What will it be?" he asks excitedly from behind the counter, "Something safe or are we feeling adventurous today? Oh, by the way, did you see we have a patio now?"
Oh, Crabs! [crab boiling]
Unfortunately, his new cafe is also popular with the cast of crabs that have been coming ashore and helping themselves to everyone's stuff. Max has half a mind to start putting crab cakes on special, too.
"Shoo! Get out of here!" he shouts at a swarm of them as he brandishes his new broom. He's trying to sweep them out the door, but they keep pinching the bristles and clinging on.
"I'm getting the boiling water in a minute!" Sorry, Ody, he likes you but your knife-wielding offspring are a problem that butter and salt would deliciously solve.
He was really hoping to make the cafe patio the biggest feature of his new cafe grand opening, but no one wants to get their toes pinched while drinking their coffee and tea.
Ralsei | Deltarune | 15-ish
Several Darkners had their own ideas, of course, but Ralsei wasn't one of them. He had his duty and his responsibilities...and sometimes, when he was alone again after one of his adventures with Susie and Kris, and couldn't stop himself from thinking anymore about what the future held...at moments like that he thought it might be kind of nice to just stop existing. It wasn't like he was a real person, after all. It wasn't like he has a SOUL.
But then...well, it seemed that when it came down to it, Ralsei didn't really want to disappear after all. That girl with the white hair had been very kind, and even hinted that he might see some familiar faces once he reached Marrow Island...but it made his stuffing ache a little, to think of Kris and Susie going through the same thing he had. He'd...oh no, he'd forgotten to ask the girl where he could find them! And he'd been so busy feeling bad that he'd completely spaced out through his conversation with the mayor! He had no idea where he was supposed to go. This is why Darkners weren't supposed to give into their emotions!!
...Well. Maybe if he just sat quietly in the town square -- and accepted a slice of watermelon, apparently, since someone had left a big gourd in front of town hall and someone else was cutting off chunks for free, how nice of them! -- maybe if he just sat quietly and nibbled his melon, Kris or Suzie would find him.
Or someone else could take notice of this lost little goat-kid (apologies for the redundancy!) and bring him up to speed. That'd be fine too.
Re: Ralsei | Deltarune | 15-ish
It's summer, but there's still school. Instead of taking prolonged breaks, schools in this world just had substantially shorter days. Which suited Kris just fine, not having to be up as early and class ending right around the time when they'd usually get too overinformed and understimulated to continue processing information.
Like right about now.
From the third floor classroom, they let their attention drift to that big stupid watermelon that has been ruining their life (affectionate) for the past month and some change. But what catches their eye this time isn't the jewel red of exposed fresh fruit gleaming in the light of the summer sun---- it's white.
Kris's throat tightens. How? Is he even real? In the darkness, Kris had tried so hard to force their eyes to see his shape, and only found beasts that wished them harm. But there he is, in broad daylight. The Light World. Would he even recognize them, looking like this?
Before their Soul can decide on a reaction, Kris pushes their way free of its influence, standing sharply. Mr. Pennyburrow asks what's wrong, Susie asks what they've seen, but Kris is already in flight, staggering from the abrupt disconnect from their Soul but no less determined.
They run. They run, and run, and run, and run, shoes barely touching the staircase. Their Soul makes no effort to interfere. Even if it did, Kris wouldn't hear it over the pounding of their own heart in their head and an endless, driving chant in their brain.
Ralsei. Ralsei. Ralsei. Ralsei. Ralsei.
As they get closer to the front door of the large building, time slows down, and the way their mind calls for him grows more insistent.
Ralsei! Ralsei! Ralsei!
Kris's hand touches the handle, and they spill like an overfilled teacup onto the street, rounding a corner and----
Without a word, they scoop him up, all one fluid motion. They hug him like no tomorrow. Their face feels wet. Only then do they speak. Quiet, fond, and shaky. "You're late again."
no subject
"Kris..." Ralsei throws his arms around them in turn, his voice wobbling and breaking. "Kris, I..." And then he's crying again, crying and laughing at the same time as he hugs his first friend, the person who gave him so much purpose and encouragement in dark times.
"Kris!" he cries, holding his best friend tight. "I'm sorry I'm late! I missed you so much!" And then, a sudden thought: they lean back, just enough to look around and ask, "Is Susie --?"
no subject
A much louder voice enters the fray, only moments before there's a heavy impact to the two's side, strong arms all but yanking them into a group hug, bright with an unrestrained joy that she couldn't even begin to shake. Coming off weird be damned - she'd been too worried that she wouldn't see him again to not rush in the second she got a chance.
(Of course, there's some concerned glances coming from the classroom above, what with how they burst out of the room - but it doesn't take long for Pennyburrow to try to hurry the children away from the windows.)
"Holy shit, you're here, you're--- actually here!" Only after a tight squeeze does she pull back, looking like she may vibrate out of her skin, breathless and thrilled and overwhelmed. She hasn't taken any time from where she bolted out of the classroom and down all those stairs, and it doesn't look like she plans to, either. "We--- we're--- the whole gang's back together!"
no subject
no subject
For this hug Ralsei does wiggle a little, just until he can get an arm free and hug her back. He can't squeeze back as strong as Susie can but he gives his best shot anyway, holding Susie and Kris as close and tight as he can.
"You're both here...I didn't know if I'd ever see you again..." Kris's comment at least gets him to giggle wetly instead of blubbering, but it's a close thing. "We gotta do a cool pose, just, just give me a minute to calm down!" He laughs again, wiping his eyes with one sleeve and sniffling hard in lieu of a handkerchief. It doesn't do much good; his eyes are still streaming like two tiny faucets.
"I missed you both so much," he admits again.
no subject
In truth, she was just as scared about the two of them never seeing him again, but right now? It's too hard to focus on that over the sheer relief, and the overwhelming excitement of it all.
(They even got time to scope out all the fun stuff around here! Get ready to get dragged around town, toothpaste boy.)
"It wasn't the same without you! I mean--- who was gonna--- delicately scream when the scary stuff happens?" It's a joke, of course, but what she struggles to say is clear as day beneath it: I missed you, too. "How long have you been here? Did you get stuck in a room in the dorms yet? We gotta try to get the guy running it to let you share me n' Kris' room, dude! It's awesome!"
no subject
"But you guys really want me to room with you? All three of us together? Um, won't it be a little crowded?" Not that he doesn't want it! He wants that so much he's a little scared of it. Better to assume it probably won't happen so he doesn't get his hopes up.
no subject
"'Course we do. We gotta stick together," Kris insists. "It'll be like a big sleepover but every day. It's awesome."