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ph_memes2024-03-08 12:39 pm
TDM #5 - Paradesium
[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.
Page 1
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!
Ezekiel "Rex" Devaro | Vampire the Masquerade(homebrew world) OC | Exsisting Player/New Character
Rex hasn't been able to just soak in a hot spring in forever it feels like. Sure he had normal plumbing and a tub back home but this is so much different! He doesn't even hesitate to slip into the warm waters, sinking as far down as he can before relaxing and letting the warmth seep into his undead muscles.
Between watching the brilliant stars above and just relaxing in the warm waters, so far this new place is heaven. Even if it's missing a couple things that make his beast that much louder. Right now he doesn't want to think about that, he just wants to sit back and relax for now.
B. Walking on the wild side!(Wildcard)
Rex is a vampire who can take the form of a larger than usual black wolf. He's definitely prowling the night so feel free to bump into him in either form! Note I have permissions here as well as an opt out for those of the supernatural nature who don't want to end up a snack. Or do. Just let me know!
A
And dangerous though it might be, he loves the forest. Too much time spent cooped up, he loves the places where he can spend a ton of time outdoors. Pumpkin Hollow is no exception, and the forest has all kinds of fun things to discover.
Like a hot spring! And someone using the hot spring! Someone who could be a new friend—at least Jarod hopes so. He doesn’t mind enemies, but he much prefers those he can keep close for a little while. Longer now that there’s no way the Centre can get to him…
“Hi!” He greets the man in the spring, popping a piece of candy into his mouth—again, not Pez, but he found these wonderful peppermints that are a delightful texture to suck on. “I hope I’m not intruding…is this the spring I read about in the paper? It looks lovely.”
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"Not at all! Yeah, it's pretty nice too. Don't have stuff like this much back home, at least not in the city so...it's nice." He waves the stranger over and motions to the water. "Come on in, it's great."
CW: references to very mild depersonalization
"There are a lot of health benefits to a naturally occurring heated spring." he advises while working off his shoes and socks. "Mineral deposits in the water can be absorbed through the skin, help with sore muscles, even supplement dietary insufficiencies."
Rising again to shed his trousers, Jarod slides into the water, relatively careless of his own nudity--he's aware of modesty taboos, but growing up in a place like the Centre has made it possible for him to...separate himself from the desire for even physical privacy in the name of his own comfort.
This isn't really one of those times--communal bathing is a common cultural occurrence, and when he settles into the water a few feet from the other man, modesty is all but forgotten as he sighs and relaxes into the water.
"You're right--this is really nice." he agrees, sinking up to his neck with a sunny, childlike smile. "Y'know, I bet someone could make a fortune off of finding something like this and charging people to use it. Like...I don't know...some kind of health spa to frequent during the day."
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"Yeah well, pretty sure the flesh has to be living for those benefits to work." He offers with a lopsided sort of grin. Masquerade, what Masquerade? He's not home and he's already met others who were different. Surely it wouldn't matter, right? Hopefully.
Stretching his arms out Rex lets himself relax further into the water. "Riiight? They had stuff like that back home, some could cost you so much money. Never really went to many myself."
B
She snorts and follows the scent through the forest, nostrils flaring as the smell gets fresher, a new soul touches her senses, but she doesn't see the creature yet.
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It's only when he catches the scent of someone else that he stops. Hunching down low in the under brush he tries to keep himself mostly hidden, of course the site of a wolf the size of a fucking horse definitely gives him pause.
Sure, he'd seen dire wolves and winter wolves back home in Valencia but this...this was different. This wolf didn't feel like them, didn't smell like them. Maybe this wolf is like the rest of the people here? Maybe they're just like him. Either way he's cautious as he finally steps out, head down and ears back as he eyes the stranger. Drawing on the power of his vitae Rex sat on his haunches and tilted his head while trying to draw the large wolves' eye. Using his ability to open a two way communication with animals, he can only hope this works.
Uh...hi there? Are you...a normal wolf? Are wolves here that big?
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I have not seen a wolf here. she replies. Not a true one anyway.
He's half her size and clearly zero threat to her at the moment.
But there are a few here who can become wolves.
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Rex relaxes and his tail lazily thumps next to him in the dirt, he purposefully makes himself out to not be a threat. To be fair, he's more threatening in his normal form. Especially compared to this giant wolf.
Think the last time I saw one your sized I was out hunting with my dogs, heh. It's been a while.
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To be fair, my dogs couldn't take on most actual wolves either. Let alone the winter wolves that were in the mountains.
After a moment of thought, Rex shakes his head and between one moment and then next when it seems the stranger blinks his form changes. Instead in the place of the large wolf is just a pretty normal looking guy in a leather jacket and black jeans.
"Sorry, this might be easier. I'm Rex by the way. And I can still understand you, don't worry."
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I have telepathy, she huffs. So any words I speak will be in your mind no matter what form you take.
That form just happens to be attractive...
Valdis. She doesn't move from where she stands. You are not a werewolf.
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"Valdis, strong name." The question on him being if he's a werewolf gets a laugh complete with a wide grin that shows off dangerous white fangs. "Oh definitely not, just a special little thing some in my clan can do. I don't think most go with wolves but I figured...what the hell. Besides, more familiar with canines."
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I've heard most vampire dislike wolves, you must think you have a sense of humor
Maybe he does, but she hasn't seen enough of him to know if it's the kind she appreciates.
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"I mean yeah, lycans and kindred don't get along but that's different."
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Someone doesn't understand nuance.
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"Woah, hey. No offense meant. I don't have a problem with Lycans or anything. So long as they're not trying to use me as a chew toy, I'll be the nicest lick you'll ever meet."
He's not the smoothest guy, sorry Valdis. "Seriously, so long as you keep those pretty pearly whites to yourself, I'm not gonna be a problem."
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I do not make threats. If you don't make yourself a problem, we will not have any issues.
With a snort her expression becomes more neutral.
What prompts you to wander so far from the village? Your small form is prime prey for the Pine Devil or other monsters.
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"Honestly? Just getting a lay of the land...that sorta thing." No he's not going to touch on being called 'small'. Sure he was no Winter Wolf or Hellhound like Valdis...but still. He wasn't small. Rude. "Never heard of a Pine Devil before, wassat?"
(no subject)
B
Oh look his first fail on his hunger check
"Careful, not sure how the Masquerade works here." He hollers from where he is, still keeping his distance. The smell of blood and the viscera ignites something. It riles the beast and all he can hear is the growls of hunger and demands to feed. No way. He can stave it off enough for now. He'd have to find some other kindred or supernatural being who could donate for him.
Not an easy ask for sure.
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"Oh- you're one of those vampire guys right? Don't worry, it's not obvious, I could smell it- just a little thing werewolves have, heightened senses of smell," he says, wiping his face with the back of his hand. It accomplishes absolutely nothing except smearing more blood.
"Really nice of you to be keeping an eye out for me though- usually I'm better at, y'know, restraining the wolf but it's been kinda a stressful day and I just really needed to let loose a bit."
He smiles, fangs easily visible.
"I'm Carl. Uh- usually I'm a diplomatic ambassador from the werewolves, but I think that only counts back home, and you're the only vampire I've met? I mean, I can still be diplomatic to you, but I don't know if it means much if it's just us? That's really just a friendship I think."
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"Uh...wait...you're not a kindred? Are you sure? Because..." He looks the guy over before looking to the kill. Sure he's known some vampires to feed on the flesh as well, it's rare but not completely unheard of. Still...it's weird. He doesn't realize he's staring until Carl introduces himself and Rex still finds himself off kilter.
"Uh...R...Rex. M'names Rex. I don't know about any others around...haven't met any yet."
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"Well, an aroo-garou from me to you as we werewolves say. I'd offer you some in the spirit of hospitality but we get territorial around our kills, sorry."
Carl shoos a couple of bugs away from the corpse before turning back to Rex.
"What're you doing out here?"
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He grins, his own fangs flashing in the dim light as he waved him off.
"Honestly? Just exploring, and the smell of fresh blood and something familiar drew my attention I guess."