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ph_memes2023-06-07 02:56 pm
TDM #1 - The Vengeful Forest
Pumpkin Hollow Gazette
6/7/23 | TDM #1: "The Vengeful Forest"
Content Warnings: body horror mentioned, article 2
A typical view from Jack's Marina
FIRST NEW ARRIVALS IN HALF-DECADE: MORE TO FOLLOW?
By Yorick Aberdeen
TAWNY BEACH - Big news at Jack’s Marina--- for the first time in roughly five years, the Marrow Isle Port Authority has reported a new arrival by ferry. And it’s not just one person.
Since the advent of the Barrier that has plagued our fair island for the past 5 years, no transport vessels have been logged for departure or arrival by the Port Authority. And for good reason! Any boat that attempted to make the journey beyond the blackened waters surrounding the island has met with a terrible fate ranging from property destruction to untimely demise. While said casualties don’t quite carry the sting they used to, the situation has obviously proven less than ideal for those looking to leave and ultimately halted the mass exodus from Pumpkin Hollow indefinitely.
Today, for the first time since the formation of the Barrier, we are seeing brand new faces arrive at the docks. All of them have been somewhat disoriented and some have claimed to be from locations that do not exist in our world. We approached one of these new arrivals, Milo Fields, for comment on his experience.
“A lady in an office told me I was dead and then I woke up on a boat,” Fields, 26, was quoted as stating on the matter. Succinct and fascinating, indeed! It would seem that for once, our island’s propensity for supernatural oddities has brought us something that we can be hopeful about. More on this as it develops.
‘CREEPY LITTLE TREES’ SEEN IN TOWN
By Yorick Aberdeen
Artist rendition of a "Brutok".
NORTHWEST HOLLOW (Prague Mills) - This morning Town Hall received a report from the road by the lumber mill, which leads out to Crane’s Ridge, that there have been more sightings of the “tiny tree people” that have been appearing around Lockwood Forest. Over the past few weeks there have been multiple sightings of short-statured creatures with gnarled limbs, bark complexions, and leaf-shaped masks moving about among the trees. There have also been several reports claiming that they have been in town. These reports are particularly prominent in areas toward the outskirts of the forest such as the aforementioned Prague Mills.
However, movement is not the only activity people claim to have seen. Many of these sightings detail more insidious behaviors such as mean-spirited practical jokes, theft, and attempted kidnapping.
The Pumpkin Hollow Gazette reached out to local historian and town council member Dahlia Leeds for any insight on these creatures from her research.
“These creatures appear to be Brutoks,” Leeds, 23, concluded in her interview with us on Tuesday evening. “They’re angry woodland spirits known to appear in cursed forests, much like our own.”
Ms. Leeds went on to issue a number of safety warnings for residents. According to her research, these Brutoks often move in groups and will lock on to woodland travelers who make eye contact with them. Their eyes are not visible so this can be done by accident quite easily if one spends too much time staring into trees. If Brutoks attach themselves to you, they will follow you home, proceeding to destroy your property, hide your personal items, attempt to cause you bodily harm, tear up your garden, and eventually spirit you away to the woods. Victims of these kidnappings will be “planted” in the woods by the Brutoks and spend the next several hours enduring the deeply unpleasant process of being turned into a tree, ultimately killing the individual. A gruesome affair.
There are several ways to dispel a Brutok invasion before it escalates to kidnapping. Ms. Leeds recommends observing their behavior for clues and keeping an eye out for puzzles set by the creatures while outside, though there may be other solutions. If you are unable to dispel them, it is possible to fight them off with brute force. Those walking in or near the woods are advised to keep their eyes on the trail but listen carefully for sounds of distress and be prepared to intervene. Should you encounter any trees that look like people, Ms. Leeds has also cited the unfortunate need to burn the unsettling foliage in order to release the spirit of the victim so that they can regenerate as usual.
As always, the sharing of information and community vigilance are imperative in warding off this new threat. Please share any information you have on the message boards at town hall or with your neighbors, and consider reaching out to Ms. Leeds or any other respected community figure if you find yourself in a bind. Keep your lanterns lit, Pumpkin Hollow. We’re in for quite the summer.
CUCUMBER FESTIVAL CANCELED DUE TO UNFORTUNATE TURNIP HEX; REPLACED WITH POTLUCK
By Yorick Aberdeen
They haunt my dinner plate and my dreams.
DOWNTOWN (Temple of Sacred Roots) - In lighter news, a solution has been found to the much-loathed Turnip Hex debacle.
As most residents of Pumpkin Hollow are aware, earlier in spring a crop hex was placed on the island by an unidentified witch that turned all ground crops sown at the time into turnips. While this is not as bad as it could be, it has resulted in mounds upon mounds of turnips and a complete lack of other crops until later harvests. The witch who cast this hex is still at large.
An unfortunate side effect of the hex has been that the beloved and highly anticipated Cucumber Festival, which normally takes place in early June, had to be canceled due to a lack of cucumbers. This has earned the ire of a great many residents who have cited the festival as “their last source of a modicum of joy on this goddess-forsaken island”, among other more colorful statements.
Reverend Degas Clayton of the Temple of Sacred Roots of our Four Earthly Mothers has proposed an alternative to the festival. While not nearly as exciting, Clayton, 57, believes that a turnip potluck is still a great community-building exercise and excuse for a social gathering. He encourages attendees to find the most inventive ways they can think of to cook up excess turnips and present their dishes on the temple lawn during the party. “The sooner we eat the blasted things, the sooner we’ll no longer have to look at them anymore,” said Mayor Poe in her endorsement of the event. It would appear she plans to be in attendance.
To participate, please bring an appropriate dish to the Temple of Sacred Roots on Friday at noon. The party will run until sundown and wine will be provided, which may improve the taste of the turnips. New residents are encouraged to attend even if they are not able to provide a dish so that they can meet their local community and learn more about the church.
Nieve Winslow (OC) - OPEN
Nieve was taking the whole thing pretty well or so she wanted to tell herself. The woman at the start had been somewhat helpful; not entirely but just enough to make the decision easy for Nieve as she had no desire to move onto the afterlife as of yet. Not when she considered that it might be a trap laid out for her by the Shade.
Or maybe this was the Trap?
She didn't think so but it was still a possibility that she was rolling around in her head as she made her way to the Tavern and inside. True to the Mayor's word, she was given a room. She'd had better but she decided it was cozy enough to serve its purpose, especially as she moved back to the door after looking around inside of the room and curled her hand around the doorknob. Whispering to herself, she closed her eyes for a second before pulling open the door and stepping forward...into the hallway.
Pausing with a frown, she looked around before immediately stalking back into her room and closing the door. Just a few seconds later, she was stepping out, looking around with a frown, and then walking back in. It didn't cross her mind that she looked rather strange as she repeated this action over and over, clearly getting a little more frustrated each time she found herself in the hallway.
POTLUCK
Turnips.
Nieve couldn't help the disturbed little scowl on her face as she looked over the dishes that seemed to be all made of one thing. Turnips.
"I suppose there are worse things," she commented out loud as she scooped some food onto her plate, glancing around as she tried to figure out what all she might actually try to see if she could stomach it. She could have used magic to change some things but she was quickly coming to learn that her magic had a habit of going a bit..awry in this place. Which was interesting, to say the least, and frustrating.
"Do you think the Burtoks would eat turnips?" She asked suddenly, glancing at whoever was standing nearby, her brows lifted curiously. "Perhaps if we left them some as an offering? Or do you think that would backfire horribly?"
Potluck!
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"We could always experiment and see what happens?"
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"Do you know magic?" She asked curiously, almost hopefully.
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Arrival
He steps out into the hallway, set on nabbing some food, when a commotion to his left catches his eye. Lucas watches her go in and out, in and out, looking more and more annoyed every time.
"Uuh...you good, dude?" He finally asks, cautiously.
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"No? Maybe?" Her scowl deepens as she closes the door and holds still, her lips moving ever so slightly like she is whispering something under her breath. If she is, it is a short phrase before she opens the door and gives a little growl.
"No, I'm not good. Not good at all," She lets her hand fall back to her side while she stares at the open doorway of her room. "I can't get home."
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"I mean, neither can I." He admits with a resigned sort of tone. "Even tried to pinch myself awake and that did jack shit."
Lowering his hands, the Medium approaches (with some caution). "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. That's for damn sure. But, uh...at least you're not the only one? I'm Lucas." He offers a lopsided grin to go along with the greeting, hoping to placate some of her justified annoyance for the time being.
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Then she sighs, attempting again to make herself relax as she turns to face him fully if she hasn't done so already when he starts to approach. She considers the easy smile and the hand being extended to her before she reaches out to tuck her hand into his. "It's a pleasure, I suppose, circumstances aside. I'm Nieve."
"And I am aware of how crazy I look at the moment but you must understand that I was trying to...well, to put it plainly, I was attempting to open a sort of doorway as a way to teleport or sidestep into another reality," she explains as she gives his hand a shake.
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Hopefully she takes that as the joke it's intended to be, but he'll give her hand a quick, but strong, shake before letting her go.
"Yeah, waking up here's a bit crazy isn't it?" Understatement of the century. Nieve's comment does get a raise of an eyebrow out of the Medium. "You mean like astral projecting or something else?"
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She does seem to take it with a good amount of humor while she shakes his hand briefly and then lets go, looking at the door again.
"No, not astral projection though that would be useful. I prefer to move my whole body when I go somewhere, it seems a little less risky that way since I can't protect myself the same way if I'm not in one whole piece," she closes the door and studies it. Then she turns to look at Lucas. "No, what I do is have my space which was my home and my workspace. I made it so I could control who could reach it and who couldn't by moving the access around, like doors in different places all over everywhere. Like, I used to have a door that came out in a little restaurant since I loved their pancakes. But later, I could have another door that opened into an alley in London."
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"Yeah, fair...That's why most of them have Guides, where I'm...uh. From." Still sounds weird when he says it, but at this point he has to accept that there's no going back until the strange lady that woke him up says so.
"That sounds really fuckin' cool though!" And honestly, not something he's heard of. Not to say it doesn't exist back where he's from but it must be pretty rare! "That would be handy here, too. Maybe try a different door?"
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Then she blinked. "Where you're...from? You're not sure where that is or you don't want to talk about it?"
"That's a good idea!" She snapped her fingers as she turned to look around, glancing at the abundance of doors before picking one across the way and two down. Maybe she just liked the look of it. Either way, she stopped in front of it, mumbling something under her breath before she reached to push the door open. There had been a glimmer of hope but it fell away as she stared at the room that looked like her own but flipped. "Hmm, that doesn't seem like it worked."
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He takes a step back to watch, hoping that it actually works! And then...nada.
"Aaw, man. I'm sorry. We could try other buildings or something, but like is it a spell you're casting or is it just a thing you can do?"
Arrival
The Welsh accent comes from the end of the hall, where a young man in a three piece suit stands with his hands in his pockets, simply...watching.
Truly, this isn't the strangest thing he's ever seen by a mile, it's not the strangest thing he's seen this bloody week, and he's honestly seen Jack behaving in far more peculiar fashion before his third cup of coffee most mornings. What's so peculiar is the tiny woman herself, she looks so...normal.
Ianto blinks, looks down at himself--and curses himself for a hypocrite.
Clearing his throat, Ianto withdraws his hands from his pockets and walks down the hall, smoothing his tie with one and gesturing to her door with the other.
"I mean--if I were to venture a guess, I would say that your door is...malfunctioning?" he ventured. "I can assure you, whatever answer you may have won't shock me in the slightest."
Re: Arrival
Not that anyone knew or cared about that title here. She was unknown here and growing increasingly frustrated by the fact that her magic wasn’t working the way it should.
Stepping out again, she paused when she heard a lovely accented voice and turned her attention to the man who was walking towards her. She considered him before huffing and looking at the door, pulling it closed.
“It’s nothing terrible, it’s just not doing what it’s supposed to do,” she replied as she flung the door open again and stared at the small room they had given her. It was a lovely room but it wasn’t her home.
Then she turned to him because he said that she wouldn’t shock him and that was intriguing. Giving him a once over, she tilted her head. “I’m trying to reach my home and work station but I can’t seem to. Something here is blocking me.”
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Plus, holding one's tongue can often produce results, and this did. To anyone else, the explanation would still be mostly nonsense, but Ianto was well familiar with the Torchwood archive, and had done his fair share of reading on the Doctor and his TARDIS back at One.
So he's now peering at the door much the same way she is--less puzzled, more introspective.
"This whole place seems to be working off of a technological level that can best be described as 'steampunk' at its most advanced." he pointed out pragmatically, glancing at the young woman again. "Are you using a specific device? Or trying to access your ship?"
Because that's the obvious explanation, of course--alien girl with alien tech, or future girl with future tech. Nothing Ianto hasn't seen before.
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“That would be bloody brilliant but no. Think of it more like a little pocket dimension I’ve carved out for myself. Now to access it and to keep others from doing it, I can move my door around to wherever I want it. It’s really quite convenient until it’s not doing what it’s supposed,” she sighed as she looked at the door and stared inward at the room again.
“It’s a fine room,” she continued, waving a hand. “But it’s not mine and it doesn’t have what I need. It seems there is something here blocking me which isn’t really a surprise but still frustrating.”
“I guess if I died, I’m powerless?” That was a troubling thought.