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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.
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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?"
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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!
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"Yeah you got cop energy," he replies simply, looking out ahead of them. "Don't worry man, I'm not gonna be a shithead about it if you don't.
"Me? Just Dennis is fine. No fancy titles or anything."
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"Well, nice to meet you, Dennis. As for the catch to this place - you probably heard Yorick and the mayor's sales pitch, yeah? This place being cut off from the outside world and under attack by demons and all sorts of weird shit every now and then. It's sort of an 'all hands on deck' situation, though like I said they'll feed and house you no matter what."
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"Yeah...yeah, and the lady pitching it to me had to talk me out of her couch before I'd go with it. I'm fuckin' done with the ghost gig. Free food's nice and all, but it always comes with caveats and I'm tired, man."
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That gets Leon's attention, and he glances over at Dennis as they walk, eyebrows raised.
"You're gonna have to explain that to me. Tired or not, we've got some kind of weird situation with death not working right here. If what you've got going on is relevant, I'm sorry, but you're probably gonna wind up needing to help out sooner or later."
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"Okay look. I've got this shit in my brain, people classify it as a type of clairvoyance. Started as a TV being dropped on my head in high school and it went way fuckin' downhill from there. I can sense ghosts, and the marks that trauma leaves on people's souls, but I gotta touch people for that. It's not something I can control either. Can't even get a fuckin' handjob without knowing the worst shit that ever happened to you, that kinda thing. Makes making friends fun, lemme tell you." Tone absolutely dripping sarcasm there.
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He stops, nodding to the swinging sign for the Oak and Iron, and holds open the door for Dennis.
"I can't speak for anyone else," he continues. "But I don't think anyone's gonna force you to do anything if you don't want to. Not for food and shelter. But if you see a chance to help out with what's going on here, just... think about it, okay? Even if it has nothing to do with the ghost stuff, like taking up farming or something."
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Passing by Leon into the tavern, Dennis hesitates a moment to step inside, with the volume of the voices he can hear in there. There are so many people... Petulantly, he grimaces at the crowd from the doorway, surveying it to see where he might be able to make his way around to avoid touching any of them even by accident.
"Man, if I don't lean into the psychic shit I am unskilled labor at best." Something he clearly knows from experience. "I'll see what I can do though. I'll shovel shit if it gets me outta this place."
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"Comin' through!" he barks, and a group of townies meandering around the edge of the room snap to attention and scurry out of the way. He doesn't really like taking advantage of the fact that he is a moderately large muscular man in uniform like this, but clearing a path for the guy who's got touch-activated trauma vision seems kind of important. The crowd scoots to the sides obligingly as he passes, and he gestures for Dennis to follow him to a table in a fairly secluded corner.
"Sorry about that," he says. "But that's the spirit. I'm sure you'll find something that you can at least not hate doing around here - you've got options and some time to experiment."
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The authority Leon manages to push into his voice is a hell of a thing to hear up close, and Dennis flinches subtly. His lip curls, and he squeezes himself in a little smaller, but he realizes right away that it's having exactly the intended effect...and he's grateful.
Sticking close enough to take advantage of the gap, but not enough to accidentally brush the other, Dennis follows until he can fold himself down into a seat with his arms crossed tight.
"Nice pipes," he murmurs absently, and carefully takes a napkin folded in a holder on the table to mop across his face, hoping that he doesn't look as clammy as he feels. "Yeah I guess... You fall into the guard position just like that, huh?"
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Literally one day, and technically not even that, but look. Look. Coming out top of the class at police academy has to count for something, not to mention it was something he grew up just knowing he wanted to be. Pity about the reality of basically everything that entailed, but maybe Pumpkin Hollow can be better.
Maybe.
"Anyway," he says, deciding not to dwell on that notion too hard. "Let's get some food in you."
He flags down one of the barmaids, who rattles off the offerings of the day - your general old timey inn fare, though notably scarcer on the meat front than one might expect. Hard times in the farming and fishing communities, and all. Leon orders himself a bowl of some kind of potato-heavy stew with the polite look of someone who's a little disappointed but trying to be understanding about it, before nodding to Dennis.
"Anything sounding good?"
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Taking a seat and immediately curling over the edge of the table in the manner typical of someone that's always been a little bit too tall for most things. "I'unno, whatever's good?" He's not particularly picky. Case in point, he doesn't really seem to notice or care about the contents of the identical bowl of stew that he opts for, only that it's warm. It's actually a bit of a struggle to keep from wolfing it all down immediately. He's going to flag the barmaid back over and ask what they have by way of beer when she comes close enough.
He's got a hunk of bread soaked in broth stuffed into his mouth when he thinks of something that has been sitting in the back of his mind since he'd arrived and started seeing other people here:
"How'd you get here? Lady in white told me I was dead and yeah, I didn't really need anyone to tell me that, but like...is that everyone's deal?"
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He figures the odds of some kind of actual crime occurring between Town Hall and his way back to the station were pretty slim, though. People seem to behave themselves pretty well here, so ultimately he figures getting a newbie settled was more important. Dennis all but inhaling his stew just about confirms that, and Leon happily leaves him to it without interrupting him for chatter until he speaks up again.
"Not everyone. I'd say almost everyone you see around is gonna be someone who was born here, on this island or maybe the mainland. But there's a good... few dozen? Maybe more people here who met with the lady in white and got the same deal I assume you did - a second shot if we prove ourselves somehow here, right?"
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Another couple of bites as he comes a little bit closer to actually being sated. "Wish there was a little more clarity in all of it, man. I really hate working for people that don't know how to be upfront about this shit."
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The delivery of that last bit is very flat and very unimpressed in a way that makes it pretty clear that Leon would like some clearer instructions as well.
"There's a guy I talked to, Angel, who seems pretty close with her, though. The impression I got from him is that we're here to help the town out with the whole 'stuck in an isolated bubble where death doesn't work right' thing. How any of us are supposed to do that, I have no idea, but it's something, at least."
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Leon does at least seem sympathetic to his plight. It's more than he can say for most people.
"Wait, why expect shit-all of us if you're not going to actually elaborate on anything? How the fuck does that make any sense?" He'd taken jobs with vague details in the past, and it never, ever went well. Now they were supposed to save a place that wasn't even theirs? Pffff. "Might find a temple later and see if I can shake down a deity or two."
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Why he hasn't already is complicated and involves a lot of very confusing mixed feelings about religion, but he doesn't need to get into that with Dennis. Point is he seems almost equally bothered by the whole thing, frowning deeply.
"Temple's out near Town Hall. Seems like this place has four goddesses? One for each of the seasons, or something like that. I haven't gotten that deep into it, but they're... around. As in, they actually help out in really visible ways. Someone got an infinite sweet potato from one of them by asking really nicely, or so I heard."
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He returns to his stew, eyeballing the contents of it just a little closer. He hadn't actually been thinking about how they had to have been feeding all these people that had apparently just arrived, including him. So apparently they have actual, literal divine intervention to thank for all of it.
"Guess I should make sure to say my Hail Marys", he mutters around a mouthful. "Or whatever the equivalent is here."
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And again, the notion of miracles just being things that happen and not stories you tell the kids or metaphors for something or other is really fucking with him. It feels like it should be comforting to have confirmation that there is a higher power or higher powers actually looking out for them, even if it's just in this weird place, but something about that gives Leon a gnawing feeling of unease that he can't quite define. But it is what it is, and he's gonna have to learn to deal with it somehow.
"Yeah. Can't help you there, I haven't asked about prayers yet, but thankfully I get the impression that none of them are all wrath and hellfire about stuff."
Contributes a lot to the general atmosphere of acceptance in town that the local pantheon isn't too fussed about rules and structure in day to day life unless you want to be fussed about it, by Leon's figuring.
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There's a lot about this world and what he's been able to glean about it that strikes him as extremely off-putting, and that's even with the dulling that the goddess had agreed to before putting him down here.
Dennis makes a soft sound into his soup at the reassurance. "Not like it makes any sense to be when you don't fuckin' die in the first place," he points out around a mouthful of potato.
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"Yeah, pretty much. Can't threaten us with eternal damnation when there's nothing eternal about dying here. Point is I don't think they would if they could, though, at least from what I've heard."
He sighs, shoving his own potatoes around with his spoon thoughtfully.
"It's still just... weird though. Like I guess we should feel grateful the gods here are the hands-on and helpful type, but I don't know. Something about it feels..." Unsure of how to put it, he trails off, shaking his head. This is something he can't even articulate to himself, much less to some guy he's just met.
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He wouldn't ask, but Dennis is the one who brought it up. Hard not to be a little curious and a lot concerned.
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"Good that you can recognize it, at least," says Leon, nodding even as he frowns about it - though the expression is more concerned than disapproving. "First step towards making less bad decisions. Or, you know, hopefully. I know it's not always as easy as that."
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cw: little bit of discussion of chemical dependencies on drugs
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