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]

Fair is fair, after all, if he's going to keep being so sweet. If she goes and tweaks his nipple deliberately, then she looks a bit too pleased with herself, settling into a good rhythm with him. Like this, she feels settled in her own skin, connected to her body in a pleasant way, present enough to sense everything around her. The pleasure she feels not reflected in him, but his own enjoyment, still from the same source, trickling to the very tips of her fingers. A lack of self consciousness, an abundance of desire, his name breathed out like it's a call and a response in one.

Oh, one could argue they barely know each other, but they've promised, haven't they, to talk more? Doesn't it raise more intriguing questions, if later, she dwells on the sort of man he is to bed strange magicians with intent on seeing them later, with his dark hair and quick wit. There's time to get to know each other, and she intends to do so. Hardly like they can be formal with each other after this.

[notinflictthem]

"Oh- aUGH-" Hawkeye tenses up and clamps a hand over his mouth at the tweaking, head back against the ground.

"Okay- what you just did but more gently, way more gently, that was an eight and I'm looking for a four at a stretch," he has the pain tolerance of a paper bag and he has no pretenses to being a big man about it.

"Good but- gentler, okay?"

[abhorrently]

She immediately falls still, an apology written across her face. Sure, that wasn't what he asked for, but she needs to be sure.

"Sorry, sorry..."

Gentle. She can do gentle. Gentle like her hands slowly coming up, her shifting so she can caress his face, look into his eyes, make sure that things are fine before she keeps going. It's a different thing when what she's used to has primarily been uncaring to that sort of treatment, her wearing her own bruises from it. A failure in experience on her part, not his.

[notinflictthem]

"Don't worry about it," he soothes, half-closing his eyes as Fever touches his face. There's a bit of bristle there from stubble he hasn't bothered shaving, and he bears no scars on his face, but there's just a little bit of weathering from a life that hasn't always been roses and cakewalks. The hand on her hip trails up over her ribs, his thumb tracing across the texture of scars, and comes to feel at her breast, kneading it in hand.

"Whenever I get a shot I start screaming before they even put it in. Just bad with pain, that's all. You're doing terrific. I mean look at you- what a body, eh? C'mere- I want to see if your lips are still as good as they were in the hot springs."

[abhorrently]

From this angle it's probably a little easier for him to see the subtle way her expression shifts when he praises her. Yet more feeling like she's slowly melting under it, softly moaning as he caresses her breast - oh, how can she resist adjusting herself so she can lean down and kiss him again. Eager to chase down pleasure, but also to find out if his sweet words leave any residue on his mouth.

And if her hands are busy cradling his face, running through his hair, they aren't accidentally bringing him pain. Instead, they kiss over and over, her sighing into his mouth as she gets used to the new angle. A girl could get lightheaded from this kind of attention.

"Still satisfactory, I hope."

Not the easiest to think of a retort like this, but she's trying.

[notinflictthem]

"Satisfactory?" he says incredulously, in between chasing another kiss, "you have a pair of lips a guy ought to write home about. In a hundred years they'll find my letter and have to presume this era was a great one for kissing."

Hawk's body is a lot of bone and softness layered over it like a threadbare mattress, with small suggestions of body hair, black shot through with the odd grey. The hand loosely at her clit starts moving now, now she seems to have got her eagerness back. In between a kiss he brings his thumb to his mouth to slick up, then returns it to press and rub against her, properly lubricates now. His nails kept short in case of surgery are good for multiple reasons, the pad of his thumb easing across it with no sharp edges. It never ceases to amaze him how this bundle of nerves coaxes such reactions out of the women he sleeps with, the fact it only seems to be there to feel good.

"You're a better lay in the dirt than some people I've slept with on silk sheets," his teeth grazing across her lips, "and your chest- they oughta stick it in the Smithsonian for safe-keeping."

[abhorrently]

Words like that have her laying kisses on his jaw, down his neck, tongue darting out to taste his skin.

"Then - I have successfully enchanted you."

It would sound more convincing if she wasn't breathless, if that wasn't the last shred of her wits being used to sustain the joke. And then it doesn't really matter, for being witty is when you don't have someone building and building the pressure, when he knows exactly how to stroke and press her as she brings herself down on his cock, guiding them both where they want to go. Though she'll get there faster at this rate, feeling tension drawn ever tighter, though she's trying to hold on for one more moment, one more. Testing her own limits.

"Hawkeye..."

No, the train of thought isn't quite making it past his name.

[notinflictthem]

A breezy breath like a laugh at that, and Hawk is more than happy to let her kiss the slight stubble at his throat. He feels the tension in her, because he kind of has to, and he coos-

"Hey- you don't need to hold on if you're getting there, not like this is the only one you're getting. I'll make sure of that."

And yes it's all ego, but as with most things about Hawkeye, it's ego he can back up with practice. He had a reputation back home that was entirely earned- a rake, a lecher, but always good for a good time, if you need one. Good with his hands.

"C'mon- attagirl-"

[abhorrently]

His words are less comprehensible when she's like this, but the encouragement is unmistakable, and it is enough. Whether his ego holds true hardly matters as she lets herself drop off the precipice, pleasure pulsing through her body and being exactly what she wanted. Still, she seizes onto what scrap of self control she still has to make sure that when she clutches at him, her nails stay out of it. No pain, just him being steadier than her own form, and needing that security.

A contented haze falls over her mind, and she hasn't really caught her breath at all, but she's smiling when she kisses him again. Grounded in her entire body, from her fingertips to everywhere they connect. Still alone, and a good thing, that.

[notinflictthem]

Another couple of tricks he's learned from his experiences; when a lady is getting there, you don't pick up the pace or get overexcited. You stay with her through it, at the pace you're already going at. So that's just what he does, keeping the rhythm and coaxing her through it. The other trick is that he holds himself at the base of his cock when she finishes, because Hawk isn't 20 anymore and he does need to think about conserving his energy if he wants his ass to cash the cheques his mouth keeps writing.

Both hands go to gently cupping her face as they kiss, which are unfortunately a little tacky with her fluids, but it's the thought that matters. Presumably.

"That good?" he asks, knowing the answer already.

[abhorrently]

"Yeah."

The look on her face says it isn't a lie. Who knew, getting off was just what the doctor ordered. After everything that's still half muddled in her brain, after everything falling apart and getting here and having to settle in, it's good to just have a good time. To be comfortable enough for it.

"And I want you to feel as good as I do." Her heart's still racing in her chest, though she's fine to slowly return to a pace. More leisurely, but steady and consistent.

[notinflictthem]

"I don't know if you've ever slept with a man before, but keeping us happy is easy. I'd be satisfied if all I was doing was lying back and thinking of England," and he kisses her cheek to punctuate it.

"I mean it. You don't need to worry about me. Although if you do want to, you could keep kissing my neck, that was good."

[abhorrently]

"Hawkeye."

She takes one of his arms, holds it down by the wrist near his head, and pulls back enough to fix her eyes on his. No hiding, no running. Impossible to lie at this distance.

"Let me worry about you. Tell me what you want."

It is not actually a request, says the subtle shift of her tone. It is something that requires an answer.

[notinflictthem]

There's a not entirely unpleasant twist in his gut as Fever manhandles him. She's like that, huh? The sort of woman that wants to boss him around. The idea makes his mouth water. Sure, back home there might have been a moments consideration of it leaking that he likes getting pushed around a little. But here isn't home- or 'home' as it were. Without the military or his reputation to think of, he can be at ease, just as he is when he sleeps with men here.

"I want you to sit on my face," and he means it, mouth slightly parted, "and- boss me around a little with it. Please."

Look at him, remembering manners with no blood in his brain!

[abhorrently]

That's more truthful, and the please is a spark in her expression.

"Since you asked so nicely."

Honesty gets rewarded, he'll learn. The feather light kiss she drops on his lips is for that. She doesn't have to let go of his wrist to shift her hips, lift herself off of him, but she does so that she can move forward. He likes her bossing him, does he? Easily done, with a grin.

"Let's put that clever tongue of yours to better use for now."

Before he can come up with a quick retort, his wish is granted.

[notinflictthem]

There's a loud moan from between her thighs, and Hawk doesn't need to be told twice. Have a task and do it, that's easy, and even more than he already was, it feels like his brain can switch off. His cock flexes, his face feels warm between the softness of her thighs, every breath he takes just smells like her. A man could get lost like this. Fever's already warmed up so there's no need to ease her in, he just laps at her, at the salt and heat and slickness that lets him know he's doing a good job. His whole time here has felt like rehabilitation, like walking on a leg after it's been broken. Doing things well that aren't life or death, like eating pussy or playing poker or making people laugh. What a relief.

He reaches up to pat at her backside, free hand sliding back up to her hip, caressing where he can reach. What's not to love about women, the way they feel, the way the texture of her skin changes from her thigh to her stomach, little blonde hairs and creases. Fever is perfect in the way everyone he sleeps with is, her unique features lovely and rare. He ought to tell her that, when his mouth is less busy.

[abhorrently]

It's a delight to be involved in something that chases away the fog in her head and the bitter memories of feeling hollowed out, something that asks her to be present but nevertheless controlled. Guiding him without being mean about it, proof again to her own hands that she can be with someone this way. When her hands tangle in Hawkeye's hair, it's only to touch him, holding without pulling, teaching him how she likes it through subtle movement and not being too quiet. Sure, he could probably figure it out, but the least she can do for him is let him know when he's doing something right, and they're still on their own. If anyone is drawing near enough to hear her sighing, that's a problem they'll have to solve on their own. Fever's too absorbed in learning that his mouth isn't just good for wit.

And when it does rise in her again, she lets go, leaning back to keep her balance, one hand braced on his chest instead. Closer, and this time she doesn't try to hold it off when she wants to come, lets it wash over her in a wave where everything is pleasure, says his name in her ecstasy.

She feels alight in the best way, and the blue of the sky is very close to the blue in his eyes when she makes herself move back, back enough that she can lean down, kiss him regardless of the state he's in.