TDM #5 - Paradesium

[pumpkinhollow]

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette March Issue

[Find our plain text version here!]

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette

3/8/24 | TDM #5 - Paradesium
Content Warnings: individual CWs found per prompt in "Further Details"
Forecast: Partly cloudy with a chance of rain

WELCOME TO PUMPKIN HOLLOW!

By Yorick Aberdeen

Apparently the ferryman needed a bigger boat!

ACROSS TOWN - Since June of 16:53, a steady stream of new arrivals to our sleepy little town has flowed in by ferry, emerging from the fog. And it seems this trend is due to continue, as this March is due to be on record the highest number of new residents in a single month!

We are incredibly grateful for all of you coming to our home and filling it with life once more, even though the dangers of our local curse have significantly increased since all of you began arriving. This reporter isn’t complaining--- additional harm to my own person notwithstanding!

If you are a new arrival, please report to Town Hall at your leisure so that we can help you find work and permanent lodging. Or don’t! The Oak & Iron is happy to rent you a room for as long as you need. Best of luck to all of you, and as we say in Pumpkin Hollow, may your lanterns always be lit!

CHARITY DRIVE ENCOURAGES CULTURAL EXCHANGE

By Cecil Gershwin Palmer

One of the charming toys created during last year's Doll Picnic.

FESTIVAL GREEN - Preparations are underway for the upcoming annual Doll Picnic. A charity event sponsored by the Artisan’s Guild, this picnic is an Anwyllic tradition that was brought to the island and continued with love. The first Doll Picnic was organized by Dame Meredith Idlewild of the town of Glyn Rhuthun on Kora’s Haven, with the toys being donated to the local children’s hospital after a massive landslide engulfed a local school.

The Artisan’s Guild has baskets of material available for making dolls, including fabric, yarn, stuffing, buttons, and the like. However, tradition states that sourcing materials from the natural world (for example, acorn husks to use as buttons or deadwood to carve for doll arms and legs) results in the toys being blessed by Serrenai, who will watch over the children who play with them. The toys will be donated to local children after the picnic, including those who are ill or whose families can only afford necessities.

Newcomers are explicitly invited to join in the making of toys, and the resulting picnic. As a personal note: the locals have never heard of a teddy bear before. This reporter expects to see several, as we introduce our traditions to their traditions.

PLANTING SEASON BEGINS!

By Yorick Aberdeen

After a difficult winter, the appearance of spring's sprouts lifts our spirits.

NORTHWEST HOLLOW - The spring thaw is in full swing! That means it’s time for our local farmers to begin planting. Town Hall is offering a small reward to any of our newest arrivals who would be interested in assisting with planting season for farms less than a year old.

Anyone fresh off the boat interested in making 100 Brass should seek out Eddie and Angel Kasbrak, Arthur Morgan, Cèsar Salazar, Mairi Miann, Ylva Wolfsdottir, or Muriel and offer assistance with tilling and planting. We look forward to rewarding you for your contributions!

HOT SPRINGS OPEN FOR RELAXATION

By Yorick Aberdeen

Photograph provided by the Safety Board!

CRANE'S RIDGE - After a recent earthquake opened up a hot spring on the lower portion of Crane’s Ridge, a small portion of the Pumpkin Hollow Damage Claims Assessment Corps has been working to get the area cleaned up and safe for use by the general public.

Following its recent approval for compliance by the Safety Board, we are pleased to announce that Porter’s Spring is now available for public enjoyment! It can be accessed by taking the train to the North Station or by following the central trail out of Northwest Hollow, though the Safety Board does not recommend making this journey on foot due to its proximity to Lake Sal-Co-Penn. Enjoy!

STRANGE CAVERNS DISCOVERED BENEATH CRANE’S RIDGE

By Yorick Aberdeen

A small glimpse into this world beneath our own.

CRANE RIDGE - In addition to the hot springs, the earthquake can also be credited for a major cave-in in our Crane’s Ridge mines. A large tunnel was completely buried in rubble by the inexplicable natural occurrence. For the past several months, our mining team has been chipping away at the cave-in to try and regain access to the blocked tunnels in the lower area of the mountain.

In one of these tunnels, however, the team discovered a shocking surprise as the rubble was removed! Apparently, just beyond the mine walls, there has been an entrance to Hepogaia--- a subterranean nation running below our own fair country and many others. It seems that this particular portion of Hepogaian territory is also trapped within the barrier. Brief attempts at scouting by the Safety Board have noted a plethora of subterranean wildlife, both familiar and unfamiliar. This incredible new environment, hiding just out of sight beneath our island, is so full of wonder and splendor that it has earned a fitting name--- “Paradesium.”

A recent ecology study and expedition run by Pumpkin Hollow’s own Dr. Elias Coldwood has redirected their efforts to this new location, but those interested in exploring and scouting out this fantastical new discovery independently are encouraged to pack thoughtfully and travel in groups of two or more! Any information obtained during excursions into Paradesium would be appreciated by the Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety.

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Further Details...

Charity Drive

The Doll Picnic Charity Drive will run throughout the next two months during our TDM, and there will be an event later on involving posing the dolls for a picnic. Once a photo is taken, the children will be allowed to come picnic with their new toys and take them home after!

There is absolutely no way this could possibly go wrong. Absolutely no dollmakers will be jumpscared or attacked by possessed dolls. None at all. (Okay, maybe some of them. But it’s fine. It’s for a good cause.)

[Mod Note: you can just make a doll without it coming to life and trying to kick your ass, that part is optional. Also the dolls will be blessed at the picnic and rendered unable to attack children.]

Planting Season

Any brand-new characters will get 100B extra on their stipend if they submit an AC-length thread with one of the existing farmers on their first Activity Check! This will be available regardless of whether the character qualifies for normal bonuses, but can only be redeemed by those who app in.

For reference for new players, threads are considered AC-length if they are ten tags in length (meaning 5 of your own tags and 5 from your partner.)

Hot Springs

Porter’s Spring is a perfectly normal and safe hot spring! However, you can encounter any number of perils on your way there if you decide to travel on foot, allowing new players to revisit some of our earlier events.

Check out our bestiary (pending update to new format) for more information on creatures such as Brutoks, the River Walker, and the Pine Devil, or stumble on Lake Sal-Co-Penn for a nasty surprise! Brutoks may also steal personal items from spring-goers on occasion. Don’t chase after them alone unless you want to be turned into a tree!

The Tristitia

In addition to the creatures in the wild, in town after dark characters may also encounter the Tristitia, Pumpkin Hollow’s newest cryptid.

She is a wraith-like spirit which haunts the island. Wearing tattered black clothes and colored all in shades of gray, she appears as a woman who walks around weeping with a caved-in chest, covering her face with her hands. Harmless if given a wide berth, but if she is set off, she will take out her desire for empathy for her grief on her target. She does this by embracing them and drawing out their own grief and trauma, leaving the target catatonic before she fades away, temporarily assuaged.

Into Paradesium

Crystals, golden with light and raw magical energy, cast what looks like sunlight down into the cascading cave. For every foot lower that the ground curls down from the entrance, the trees stretch ever-higher, carrying the raucous cries of animals unlike the surface of Marrow Isle had ever heard.

A jungle, so lush with life, sprawls ahead of any brave enough to venture into it. But what is there to see?

For Paradesium specifically, the bestiary has received a significant update. Creatures featured in prompts have their links to the accounts by Dr. Coldwood and his team marked with stars for easy location.

Below are multiple prompts for some encounters to be had in the jungle, but feel free to create any of your own encounters with any of the creatures listed! If the descriptions are short, feel free to write the creatures' behaviors however makes sense.

Welcome to the Jungle

Swallowed by dense canopies and noise, the jungle is quick to swallow any who travel within it whole.

Eyes are quick to find you, however. Perching in the treetops are a variety of small wyverns in vibrant colors, heads tilting as they try to comprehend what you could be. They squawk, chatter, and some of the bolder ones draw closer - if you sit anything aside and leave it unattended for too long, some even bolder than that will pilfer it, taking the object into the trees to admire with its companions.

Reptilian hunters with bright, keen eyes, the Plommon, consider you with much of the same interest. This interest increases tenfold if you happen to feed them.

If the prying eyes are no bother, then the forest's bounty is ripe for tending and taking. Bananas hang off trees, colorful citrus fruits catch light on their waxy peels, and bulky cocoa beans are jostled by movement in the branches above them. Even the broad leaves of the plants prove extraordinarily useful, whether you're looking to come in and quickly leave, or intend to push further within.

Wherever you go, those curious eyes follow you. Perhaps even out of the cave, should your attempts to shoo an adventurous creature away. What an odd way to gain a new team member.

Down a Few Notches on the Food Chain

(CWs: Potential for death, gore, or animal death)

Unfortunately, not all can be pure bounty and new friends in a place like this.

With the cavern sprawling widely and massively, there are many significantly larger creatures in this space, and some seem to be keen to take up opportunity for new prey. As you explore, there's a new feeling of eyes upon you, and the silence that overtakes the surrounding trees spells nothing good to come.

Any one of the massive predators in the wood has you in it's sights.

Escape is difficult, but manageable, as is fighting back. Creatures can be challenged, and hides, bones, and other spoils can be claimed from them, should there be success! If not, this is a good opportunity for familiarization with the Death page.

The silkhide chimera specializes in persistence. The longer and further you go, the more exhausted you'll get. A break is an opportunity that it will be keen to take.

The greenstalker excels at ambushing and high-speed pursuit. At top speeds of 30MPH, your party will need strategy and skill on their side to keep this beast at bay. (Or, alternatively, a source of fire.)

The elephant raptor does neither of these - the beast's sheer length of reach does all it needs to. Water and mud soften the sounds of the gargantuan creature's approach. Stay alert, and be sure that you hear it before it's upon you.

Safe travels become more difficult to manage, the further in you go. Deep, rumbling snores tell you that there's a chance you're just getting to the greater threats this paradise has to offer...

Fragments of the Past

Through great distances traveled, this "uninhabited" cavern begins to show signs that may speak to that not having always been the case.

Ruins of homes, crumbled bricks and tiles, can be found at the deepest reaches of the cavern. These dilapidated buildings, though worn with time, tell a story: the people who left his place, one that could be identified as a stenholm to any familiar with dwarvish culture, did not leave it on good terms.

Essentials were clearly taken with them, as the ruins of this place lack tools or clothing. Valuables are still scattered throughout, however. Large objects with too much history to have been left behind by indifference dot the collapsing homes. Ritual circles still waft radiant energy from them.

In the remains of a temple, an altar stands, cracking with age and covered in plants as the cavern reclaims it. Old candle-stands have rusted with age, but still stand, undisturbed.

Just before the altar, folded onto its side (as best as one can be, when only pieces remain), lies a skeleton. The clothes are tattered remains of stained whites and dulled blues, and the wildlife have cleaned flesh from bones, but it's remained undisturbed by time.

There's a quiet sadness to this place that lingers, even with the people who inhabited it so long since lost.

Should you linger too long, however, there comes the distinct feeling of not being alone.

Clair de Lune

(CWs: Long-term isolation, extinction)

Golden eyes of a human face follow your every moment, and the moment you lock your gaze onto them, the face emerges from the darkness, partially covered by spilling dark hair.

What follows this face, however, is not a human face - but, rather, a feline body with sprawling, grey-flecked wings.

There's a long, tense silence, as it emerges fully. Standing easily at eight feet tall while on all fours, the size of this creature becomes more and more apparent as it emerges from the dark of the collapsed wind.

Unlike the other animals of the cavern, though, there seems to be an anxiousness to its look. The lion's chest rises and falls with short, nervous breaths.

And then, in a hushed, woman's voice, hoarse from disuse, it speaks.

"Who are you? Why have you come here?"

-------------------

The Sphinx is a new NPC available for characters to interact with, should they delve deep enough into the caverns to find the stenholm. She's wary of all the new faces, and tends to be somewhat flighty, but seems cautiously interested in what new humans being in Hepogaia have to offer. For the sort looking to understand this place, it's people, or intend to trade, she can be communed with.

To interact with her, comment on the TL provided from beastsofthehollow with her icon, and if the initial introduction isn't your speed, feel free to encounter her however you like!

Comments

[abhorrently]

She keeps pace, looking around to drink in the scenery, but doesn't let it slow her down. It's beautiful here - the abundance of the natural world hasn't yet sunk in and felt normal.

"What are we planting today?"

[pineapplesalmon]

César notices her looking and... slows down the pace as he explains. "Mostly soybeans. Some other crops, too, but those are going in the greenhouse full-time. We've got at least one, maybe two vegetarians here."

[abhorrently]

It's the look of someone gorging themselves on the outside, the fresh air and scents of the place, eyes a little wider as if that would help her take it in better.

"And the soybeans will be enough for them? Are they going to need other things - mushrooms and the like?"

She remembers Tayrey, and her avoidance of animal flesh, and the other things that had been sufficient. And surely there have to be people of the same in Faerun, but her memory fails her on that front."

MAD SCIENTIST FARMER UNLOCKED

[pineapplesalmon]

Good thing the greenhouse is made of glass and the outside will still be fully visible. It's just warmer in there.

He's also thinking of Tayrey. ... also trying to get soybeans since so many Japanese

"Mushrooms, too, I think. We have a new resident, Ylva, that can forage." He stops dead, and he's doing calculations, and then he's smiling wide at Fever. "I could grow mushrooms in the basement! There's a ton of unused room in there! Both here and at my house. Anyone with a house could help, even! And they could produce year round. And they can be dried!"

He slaps his forehead, laughing. "I've been so busy with getting my farm up to speed, I hadn't even had a chance to think of mushrooms! I don't know how to grow them exactly other than knowing they're fairly easy, but I bet Ylva and Mairi can figure it out!"

And he indeed does call Ylva up about this later.

HE'S EVOLVING INTO HIS TRUE FORM

[abhorrently]

She smiles then, more real - it's been nestled into the base of her skull, since Dr. Watson had mentioned people going hungry, the need for more food, and especially since all the new arrivals would be taking from the stores. They all need to contribute, and something easy that would bulk up whatever's there? Better than a bunch of inexperienced hands taking up farmland and fucking it over.

"If it's easy to do, then it could certainly catch on to more than just here. I've never met a person who'd turn them down, and enough people with their own stores would mean that they know the food is there for them."

Briefly, she thinks of the myconids, and wonders if anyone there would have had a book on how to grow them best.

"Or not just food, some have more alchemical uses, but I'm getting the sense that food is the priority for the moment."

[pineapplesalmon]

"Food is definitely the priority." César confirms. "It's easy enough to keep mushrooms growing once they start. So... if there's a number of people who can help out, then it'll make things so much better. I... don't want to see the important people around me in that state ever again."

César can still see the famine in Magne's cheeks and she can still see it in his. He's still underweight beyond that from back home. It's going to take a little while longer to fix that.

He pulls out a little skinny notepad and pencil, flips to a page, and ads a bullet point to include talking to Ylva later. "... externalizing my memory. I'm juggling too many things to risk forgetting."

[abhorrently]

"Of course. And I could spread the word among the rest of us very recently arrived about this - not that they wouldn't listen to you and the others, but even quicker to convince them when it's one of their own. I think enough of us would find it a honor to care for something living in the first place, never mind the benefits. As long as we know where to start and what to do so we're not cultivating poison over provisions."

Or you know. Carefully doing both, just in case.

[pineapplesalmon]

"That would be great. That'd save me a lot of time when I'm already on a tight schedule. And growing things are really rewarding; I needed a change after I got here." César looks a bit relieved, to be honest. "I'll talk to Ylva and let you know.... wait. I don't... know your name?"

He laughs a little. "Well, you probably have figured out I'm César Salazar, at least?"

[abhorrently]

She looks at him just a touch sheepishly - she keeps forgetting that part.

"I'm Fever. Well met, César. You say the word on the sending stones, and I'll come back down to retrieve whatever I need to, should you need help with distribution."

In the back of her mind, the figments that stand in for her friends are there. And one is fuming that she's making this offer without negotiation of more payment, but she can be helpful without his input.

[pineapplesalmon]

César has that trouble, too.

"I'll definitely reach out, because if I try to distribute this all myself...." He shrugs. "I'd definitely go over my limit. But I don't want to overload you, either. So it might be easier if I just... ask people to pick up the supplies."

[abhorrently]

"They could hardly turn down an excuse to step out of town for a little while, anyway. Particularly in spring."

Secretly, she's a little relieved. Look, she's a caster, her strength only goes so far.

[pineapplesalmon]

"I'll probably make my house in town a pickup location, too. Easier to get people to get involved if they don't have to go out of the way. Some people will like the trip, though. And we do have a mailman, so delivering it is also an option." César is going to write that down, too.

[abhorrently]

"With all those options, it'll be hard for anyone to find an excuse to not get involved, save not having space."

A brief pause, before she adds:

"There's a number of people I know who will be over the moon at the idea of growing anything. It wasn't possible, where we were before. No earth, no seeds."

[pineapplesalmon]

"That's my goal." César then rolls around that bit of information before smiling brightly, and more stuff being written down. "... Then they might be the key to helping this get off the ground. I'm already stretched pretty thin. Do you think they'd be up to assembling the kits to grow the mushrooms, too?"

[abhorrently]

"Without a doubt. If a notice goes up on that community board with a date and place, you'll have people coming to assist."

And if nothing else, she can start harassing people she knows to help out. A few of them can get dragged by the arms, she's sure.

"Sweeten the deal by making it so that if you come help make them, you can take yours home that very day and get started all the sooner."

[pineapplesalmon]

He hmms as he considers all of this, rubbing his chin. "... You know, running a small workshop would be very doable. And a good way for people to socialize. I can order most of the supplies instead of gathering them myself, leaving just the parts of the mushrooms we'd need."

César starts to half talk to himself. "Ylva and maybe Mairi might be interested in helping since they're way more experienced druids. That just leaves a good place to meet... My back porch would do, so long as nothing there would make my chickens sick! I've got a row house in the village since I need to be near people."

[abhorrently]

She lets him talk and continues following, the smile on her face still the more restrained version that it normally is, but slowly moving towards something genuine.

"Sounds like all the pieces are there. It'll just take a few messages before everything's ready on your porch and the folks start arriving to turn it all to its purpose."

And wait, hang on-

"Forgive me for saying so, but you don't look like a typical druid."

[pineapplesalmon]

They reach the greenhouse, and César's reaching for the handle when she drops that second part on him. He bursts into laughter. Something that's returned to him so quickly.

"I don't! It's the hair, isn't it?" César opens the outside door and offers her to first with his hand.

[abhorrently]

"That, and you're a lot friendlier than the bulk of druids I've run across before. Which granted, they had a lot to be stressed about at the time."

She's smiling back, and walks into the greenhouse, looking over the pots. Time to turn them into carriers of the soybean.

[pineapplesalmon]

"It's hard for me not to be friendly... everyone here's been great to me, save for the demons, and I've got the best girlfriend. Magne Hikiishi." César closes the door behind him, walking towards where he has the beans to be planted in some bags. "I'm saving up for druid-like clothes and equipment next month."

[abhorrently]

Ah, so he's dating Magne...cute. She'll have to gently tease him later about it.

"What specifically are you looking for? Before I got caught up in all of this, I was an adventurer - still am, really. We might be looking for similar gear."

[pineapplesalmon]

Tease away! Unlike others, he's aware of some of her past. He's also aware that he's biased because he loves her deeply already. Both mean that he's doing his best to give her a more normal life here without being overbearing. A second chance.

"Right now, a quarter staff, and I'll be custom ordering a poncho... mostly so I don't get fried by the sun. Later on? Leather armor of some nature, but I need to recover more from the famine and back home before I put that burden on myself."

[abhorrently]

"You and me both when it comes to a staff. There's a man I know who might be able to make it work, but I want to have the wood in hand before I go making requests. Kind of hard to train in the absence of one."

She laughs a little, but the words are serious, even as she comes to inspect the bean bags.

[pineapplesalmon]

César laughs a little, but he's also serious. "I need to go back into Paradesium to look for suitable wood myself, but I'll need an escort and also the time I don't have yet. Once planting season is further along."

He knows better than to go alone. No need to worry Magne. Or worry himself, to be honest.

He walks over to the beans bags (lol) and smiles. "Okay, so being a druid means we can cheat a little. I'll show you how to plant the bean. Then you plant beans, and I go behind you to start making the beans grow a little."

[abhorrently]

"If it comes time and you don't have a preferred companion, I'd be glad to go back in at your side. I'm a pretty fair sorceress, if I may brag - and since I know staffs, you needn't be worried I'll hand you every stray branch and ask if they will suit."

But for now, bean time.

"What do we have to do, apart from putting the beans in the dirt?"