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ph_memes2024-05-10 08:27 pm
TDM #6 - The Wheel Turns [First Edition]
Reminder that this is our first full TDM after the age minimum removal! Currently, we are asking that all toplevels include the age of the character (or at least a rough estimate) for TDM posts, to ensure that players both old and new can quickly make informed decisions about how to interact with a given character. We also ask that if someone lists a prompt as having an age preference, that it be respected. We understand that this strategy may not work, so pardon our dust while we try out something new!
Also, as of June 7th, Pumpkin Hollow will have been around for one whole year! Thanks for an awesome trip around the sun, everybody! Here’s to another! This particular TDM is going to be a celebration of making it through our first year and all the adventures we had along the way, so please enjoy this highlight reel of our year in review and take a crack at some fun you may have missed. Have fun!
[Find our plain text version here!]
Pumpkin Hollow Gazette
5/10/24 | TDM #6 - The Wheel Turns [First Edition]
Weather Forecast: Fog in early mornings, occasional rain, otherwise clear.
WELCOMING NEW RESIDENTS FOR ONE YEAR AND COUNTING!
By Mayor Hellen Poe
The crop for which the town is named.
ISLAND-WIDE - Last June, Jack’s Marina saw its first overseas vessel in five years come into port as the very first ferry arrived. Ever since that fateful day, that same ferry has ushered in newcomers from all over this wide, wild universe, bringing to this island a multitude of individuals. Each new resident has been unique --- most have been the only person from their world of origin, and each has their own skills and knowledge. However, all of them are unified by one characteristic: they have served as a symbol of hope.
Our island is deeply cursed, of that, there is no question. And in the past year, we have faced many challenges together, from cursed pirate treasure to nightmare carnivals, from food shortage to turnip overflow, from train rides to alternate dimensions to a parasite-infested ship. But in overcoming those challenges we have grown stronger as a community.
As the Wheel of the Year turns once more, we move forward with the hope built for us by our newest residents, and we are pleased to continue welcoming ferries into our docks. If you’ve just arrived, please feel free to stop by Town Hall or reach out to any of your new neighbors for assistance. Welcome, offworlders, and may your lanterns always be lit.
LAKE SAL-CO-PENN FOG ADVISORY
By Yorick Aberdeen
An eerie view of the notorious lake.
LOCKWOOD FOREST (Northern Marrow Isle) -The Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety has released an important new weather advisory for everyone traveling through Lockwood Forest toward Paradesium on foot. As most of us are aware, the intense rain last month resulted in some very high humidity for this time of year, especially given that this time of year is still quite cool. This has resulted in some heavy fog around the notorious Lake Sal-Co-Penn at the base of Crane’s Ridge, particularly in the very early mornings and late afternoons as the sun begins to set.
For those not yet aware, Lake Sal-Co-Penn’s fog draws those exposed closer to the lake, where it will then subject the victim to dangerous illusory experiences. The side effects of these illusions include but are not limited to foul smells, supernatural compulsion, panic attacks, drowning, and death. If you come into contact with the fog from proximity to the lake, don’t panic! Once you see where the lake itself is, turn around so that your back is to the water and begin walking straight ahead as quickly as possible while reassuring yourself that you do not recognize the bodies in the water. Safe travels!
PAST FRIGHTS MAKE ROTATING ENCORES
By Chief Constable Janine Kilbride
ISLAND-WIDE - Reconnaissance officers set out by the constabulary, in conjunction with the Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety, have reported multiple sightings of various hostile monsters and spirits that have plagued our town over the past year. These beings include recurring island staples such as Brutoks and the River Walker, as well as newer aggressive entities such as the Tristitia and some carnivorous creatures from Paradesium. They appear to be on some sort of rotation as to which will appear on a given day.
While the Board of Safety continues to monitor the situation and test theories about an observable pattern, please travel safely regardless of time of day or location. Report any monster sightings directly to the nearest Enforcer and keep an eye on the community bulletin board for information as this situation develops.
PUMPKIN HOLLOW JOB FAIR
By Yorick Aberdeen
FESTIVAL GREEN - Due to the success of our planting season recruitment efforts over the previous months, Pumpkin Hollow’s Town Council will be expanding upon its initiative to help people seek out career opportunities in a local Job Fair! Come down to the festival green if you’re interested in a new job, and one of our seasoned artisans and skilled laborers will show you the ropes!
MAGICAL CRITTERS GRACE ISLAND ONCE MORE
By Yorick Aberdeen
A little friend in the Festival Green tulips.
VARIOUS LOCATIONS (Lockwood Forest, Crane’s Ridge, Paradesium) - This past autumn, a host of eerie, magical animals resembling ghosts took over Lockwood Forest, but departed just as mysteriously as they’d arrived by the end of November. These creatures of unknown origin were found to possess incredible power, and while some were hostile, others seemed quite friendly and were content to follow us home. Those that decided upon homes remained even when their brethren vanished with the snowfall.
Now it would appear that another wave of these helpful companions has appeared in the wild! While some are familiar, many of them are entirely new. Most seem to bear plant-like features, but some whimsical pink creatures or pastry-themed animals have been spotted as well. If the pattern follows, they should be around until summer reaches its peak, so go out there and make a friend, and make sure to bring treats!
HELP WANTED: Piano Wrangler
By Dottie Siward, owner of Empty Pockets
DOWNTOWN HOLLOW (Empty Pockets Music Lounge) - Local music lounge seeking assistance taming piano mimic(?) acquired from Calloway’s Curios. Our old piano got bashed to bits in the flood a while back and we bought a fancy new grand piano for a ridiculously low price, especially for Calloway’s. This was a terrible mistake. The piano eats people. Especially people who play badly, which happens a lot on open stage nights. Please help. Half-price drinks for life to anyone who can get this thing to behave, at least until we get a new piano.
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Year in Review
Monsters from our previous TDMs will be making victory laps in a week-long rotation. Which creature you’ll encounter depends upon the day!
Monday's Child is Fair of Face [cw: facial mutilation]
On Mondays, Smiling Jack from TDM#3 - "It Came from Beyond the Veil!” will appear in and around the cemeteries and farmlands, primarily at night. He is a hostile spirit with a Jack-o-Lantern over his head to hide his Glasgow smile. He attempts to make his victims laugh with morbid jokes and pranks and will attack those who do not find his antics funny, exposing his mutilated face and inflicting his same injuries on them. Those who do laugh will be followed until they cross paths with someone new for him to torment. Defeat him by breaking his pumpkin head!Tuesday's Child is Full of Grace
On Tuesday nights, starry-bodied, glittering monsters themed around constellations from TDM #4 -”Aurora Borealis Blitz” can be found roaming the streets and beaches looking for people to aggress. They only appear interested in people, not in buildings. Unlike the previous iteration, they do not require the aurora borealis or a clear sky to manifest, but there are also significantly fewer of them and they do not seem interested in doing any property damage. Defeat them in combat to get a handful of magical stardust! Each monster’s worth of stardust grants one of the following wishes if tossed into the wind:Luck: One unexpected fortunate circumstance occurs organically within the next 24 hours, and any dice rolls made during the OOC week will gain a bonus of +2.
Shimmer: A Shiny Pokemon will appear.
Weather: You can decide the weather for the next day, which can only be interrupted by Cecil Palmer’s Weather with consent from the user.
Fortune: Gain 10 Brass! Wow!
Abundance: Mysteriously acquire one delicious home-cooked meal of your choice with no apparent source.
Safety:: One immediate respawn from death (only works once per character for duration of the game).
Pants: A fabulous new pair of pants, free of charge.
Those who acquired stardust in the prior TDM can now use it for these purposes.
Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe
One of the island’s local cryptids, the Tristitia, can be found wandering the streets of town on Wednesdays. She originated from player action but made her first official appearance on TDM #5 - “Paradesium”. She is a banshee-like evil spirit appearing as a veiled woman with a hollowed-out chest. While normally she is not particularly aggressive if given a wide berth, on her day of the week she has become more hostile. She is ever-grieving and will attempt to embrace her victims and force them to share in her anguish by drawing out their personal trauma and sadness. She is extremely difficult to kill, but will vanish on her own when satisfied with her work.
Thursday's Child Has Far to Go
On Thursday afternoons, Greenstriders from TDM #5 - “Paradesium” can be found coming all the way up from the underground jungles of Paradesium to hunt and forage in Lockwood Forest, even coming as far as Northwest Hollow to try and steal from farmers. They are violent, loud, aggressive, and venomous, and they work in small packs. Good luck if you get caught outside on a Thursday.Monsters from Paradesium, including Greenstriders, were studied and reported on during an expedition led by Dr. Elias Coldwood. More extensive notes on greenstriders can be found in Dr. Coldwood's improved besiary.
Friday's Child is Loving and Giving
Featured in our December Mini TDM - “The Dead of Winter,” the Whispering Trees of Lockwood Forest are found to be active throughout the day on Friday. Gentle voices from the trees lure unsuspecting, emotionally vulnerable victims out into the woods by telling them that they are loved--- moreso by the trees than any other time in their lives. Following their dulcet tones resulted in hypothermia back in December, but without the aid of snow, the trees will now attempt to manipulate their victims into other deadly behaviors. Lovebombing has never been so toxic.Saturday's Child Works Hard for a Living
On Saturdays, the River Walker from TDM #2 - “Down in the Underground” will be skulking around the Paring River which separates the town from the forest. A spider-like monstrosity with chitinous legs resembling rough hewn wood that bears the face of a drowned woman, the River Walker enjoys catching people unawares and knocking them unconscious. It then drags its victims down to labyrinthine tunnels where it will chase them through the claustrophobia-inducing burrows for hours and hours at a time, catching and killing them only when all hope is lost. However, the River Walker is quite weak and can only fight off one assailant at a time. Occasionally one can stop the Walker from kidnapping someone, but this is challenging as the creature is quite sneaky. The best way to defeat it is for two victims to find each other by sound in the tunnels and work together to escape, at which point the River Walker will avoid the pair and let them go for fear of retaliation. Escapees are let out near the mines in Crane’s Ridge!And the Child Born on the Sabbath Day is Bonny and Blithe, Good and Gay
Last but not least, on Sundays during daylight hours, one has a chance of being targeted by one or more Brutoks. Having been the very first monster to ever appear in a Pumpkin Hollow event, they were featured in TDM #1 - “The Vengeful Forest”. Brutoks are tricksters who hide in trees and then attach themselves to victims who make accidental eye contact. If attached, they will pull mean spirited pranks, steal personal belongings, vandalize property, and eventually try to kidnap the victim. Taken victims will be planted in the ground and slowly turn into trees that must be destroyed in order for the person to die and resurrect. To dispel Brutoks, one can look for their simple but well-camouflaged puzzles, which will be outside near the space they’ve attached to. Or, you can set them on fire. Dealer’s choice.
Additional Prompts
Lake Sal-Co-Penn
Lake Sal-Co-Penn is an infamous SCP which creates dangerous hallucinations. It presents the viewer with a vision of one or more floating corpses, which appear vaguely featureless until closer inspection. At this point the corpse(s) will take on the form of someone who the victim knows personally in an attempt to get them to enter the water, where they will be drowned and consumed. Feel free to roll dice to determine how well you can resist the illusion, and don’t forget to fill out a Death Certificate if you die!
Magical Creatures
The aforementioned mystical critters are Pokemon! Some Pokemon already exist on the island--- Ghost types were available during October and November. This time, both Fairy and Grass types can be found around the island for the duration of this TDM! (May & June). Here’s everything you need to know:
- Dual-types and pre-evolved forms of Pokemon that will gain Fairy or Grass types later are available. (Except for Eevee, due to its many evolutions. But Sylveon and Leafeon are available!)
- Evolution is possible--- stone deposits will be found in the mines later!
- Each character may have up to three Pokemon companions
- Neither Pokeballs nor the knowledge to create them currently exists in Pumpkin Hollow. Unless a PC with this knowledge shows up, you will just have to befriend them rather than capturing them properly.
- No Legendaries or Mythicals are available for adoption (for the sake of fairness), though Ogerpon can be found near Elsie’s Tree of Trinkets in Lockwood Forest. However, she is extremely shy and will flee from most people. She seems to respond to certain individuals, though…
- Shinies can be obtained through stardust or by purchasing a Sparkling Talisman from Calloway’s Curios for 50 Brass. Each character may only have one shiny. (Note that new arrivals begin with 100 Brass.)
Job Fair
The Pumpkin Hollow Job Fair is a great meet-and-greet for older residents and new arrivals! Farmers, artisans, fisherman, and more can set up booths, Q&As, or sign-ups for job shadowing on the Festival Green. New folks are given the opportunity to drop by and learn more about potential career options! Not only is this a recipe for new CR, but anyone who participates in a Job Fair thread (both presenters and newcomers) will gain an extra 100 Brass on their next (or first!) activity check! This bonus can only be claimed once per character.
Help Wanted
The man-eating piano in question is Yamaha, a staple of a previous game that much of our current player-base has migrated over from. While it has a particular taste for bad players, mistake-makers, and your sheet music, it seems to have an affinity for specific individuals. This is mostly a treat for our CRAU folks, but feel free to get eaten! We’ll see you tomorrow.
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Now she clings even tighter at the unexpected teleportation, strangling his arm in protest so she can't be flung. "Hey!" Her pupils narrow into slits, gazing into a face not too unlike her own.
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That isn't spoken so much as felt. He's eyeing the water, the corpses still floating at the far edge, innocuous, just like the fog. But something is most definitely wrong.
Actually. One of those wrong things is far closer than the lake. He holds his arm up, peering intently at the octopus cutting off circulation to his hand, "Did you talk?"
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She chitters quietly in confirmation. "Oh come on, you can but it's weird for me?"
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"Why wouldn't I be able to talk?" He can understand dozens of languages even! "You're an octopus, and as far as I'm aware they don't have a comprehensible language."
Strangely the talking octopus is less of a pressing matter than the fog, lake, and whatever is happening in the water itself. He turns and storms away from it, his feet almost silent against the grassy field heading towards the pathway back to the town. "Don't you need to be in water?"
He groans, "I'm talking to an Octopus. That's what this has come to."
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"This was just a wish gone wrong. And if you let me dry off I'll transform back into a woman so you can stop being so cephalophobic."
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But... a wish gone wrong does make more sense than anything else in this place has so far. "Are you a druid? This is an odd wild shape to choose."
Though he makes a soft sound that's something akin to laughter, "Cephalophobic. Yes, that certainly describes me accurately."
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"No, no," and Ava is glad Fever explained what druids were to her recently. "I'm just a regular lady," she claims. "But I expressed if I had to be an animal that I'd rather hypothetically be something nobody would want to put their hands all over. Like a dog or cat."
She sighs out in another puff of gills. "Downside is turns out most everyone rather attack me on sight for being so ugly and creepy. I'm sure you know how that is." She pats him.
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The sideeye she is getting for the "ugly and creepy" comment.
"Everyone does generally want to murder me but that's not precisely why. And I'm hoping you don't once you're no longer an octopus considering I just saved you from whatever was going on back there."
He starts following one of the pathways that he's pretty sure heads back to town, as soon as it becomes cobblestone rather than packed dirt he levitates a few inches off the ground, floating along at the same pace he would have been walking. He really needs to find some shoes.
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She chitters in response, attention brought back to haunted waters. "I... thought I saw. People I knew," she admits with a touch of sadness. "Lost from the last realm. Not all of us managed to escape." She turns the ring over a few more times and then slips it as far up the tentacle she can manage for safe keeping.
"I don't make a habit of killing anymore. Besides, you seem nice enough." She glances below, to confirm that they're indeed floating. Neat. "What's your name?"
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"Anymore." Yeah he heard that. "I presume most of those kills were not when you were in this form."
He tilts his arm around to be able to look at her, "My name is Imbros. Usually people do not ask Illithids if they have names, which leads me to think the previous realm you were in, was not my own."
cw brief mention of autocannibalism
She slowly turns over in his grasp, to better watch where they're headed. "Not most, no. Unfortunately more in this form than I'd like." Her husband twice now, if she counts the latest drowning out of the parasites. And the stress-induced eating of her own limbs.
"Nice to meet you, Imbros the Illithid," Ava says politely, reaching up to shake one of his face tentacles. "Those who knew of me in my originating world mostly referred to me as Ghost. But friends now call me Ava. Starr."
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and therefore knows next to nothing about because he's from 3.5)."And once there was nothing else, you ended up here. Refilled with the standard amount of despair?" It's interesting, but puts him no closer to figuring out why he specifically ended up here. He wasn't in despair prior to this, actually he was in a fight and he had been winning as far as he knew. Which makes this all the more surprising that apparently he's dying now.
"Ghost. That's quite thematic." Being that she's solid white, which is now what he's expecting the humanoid form to look like as well.
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"I believe the only reason so many of us managed to survive was my... best friend. Sacrificed himself for a wish to get us elsewhere, safely. So I'm fine being here. Even with all the monsters and demons." Because it's the first time she's ever had a chance at a somewhat normal life. She won't waste it after how much it took to get there, won't let that sacrifice be for nothing.
A small flutter of a giggle, a dark pattern dancing across slick skin. "Not creative at all, is it?"
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He won't comment on the friend sacrifice, as that's a very mortal thing that he hasn't quite figured out yet. But he does know something about realms.
"Better in a place with monsters and demons than a realm that is collapsing in on itself. After everything is crushed into nothingness, it'll explode like a star going supernova, but first, in the space where it once was will create a vacuum sucking everything in around it from nearby realms before it bursts." Well that's how realms work in his world anyway. Which he still thinks is where he is, just a much more wild magic version of it.
"And not particularly stealthy if you want to travel in dark waters." He drops down to the ground to walk again once they're near the town, "Where would you like me to take you? I presume you don't want to crawl around."
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She's likely to never know.
"Mn, nobody's ever questioned my stealth," Ava shifts partially to look around the edge of town they've reached and the possible paths through it. No longer occupied with the urgency of escape, she realizes all at once her dilemma.
"Ah no, I lost my clothing back in the water..." and no, she doesn't sound eager to go back for them. They've become rather worn out over the few months, from her constant fretting over the hems and nervous twisting of fabric. But most of all the work on the farm had begun to wear holes into the stained knees. No, they're not worth going back for at all, but she doesn't want to wander around naked either, even invisibly. She assesses how damp her skin still remains, to estimate how much time she has before the transformation back.
"A clothing shop?" is the natural suggestion then.
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"I've only just arrived yesterday, you'll have to direct me."
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"I mostly only ever go to the library. There's the shady merchant that way..." she recalls to herself. "And the oak & iron..." where she wasn't likely to find clothing either. "The graveyard, city hall... hawkeye's clinic..." she sounds like at a complete loss.
"I'm not particularly fashionable."
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"I rescued you in the first place. In human parlance you owe me."
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Which gives her a thought. "But if the matter of modesty doesn't matter any to you, I'd gladly take yours."
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Because practically speaking he doesn't have anywhere to put the sending stone he was given or the 35,000 books he's about to steal. He may in fact, need more pockets.
"I can tell you're human just from the way you talk."
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It's a bit more difficult to gauge his height when her own altered state is skewing her perspective. But he seems roughly the same height as her husband, and therefore the top might fall just long enough on her to not be indecent...
"What do you mean by that?"
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The dice have spoken and they come across the clothing store before the library. He huffs as they walk past a window of more basic linen garb in various shades of natural dye.
"Now I'm positive you are. Only humans have luck like this."
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"I've never met an elf or an orc at all. Or your type, really. Most sentient beings of my world are humans." And whatever the hulk is. "Just some of us are enhanced."
She's about to start tugging at the bottom of his shirt to steal it away when they comes across a shop that advertises simple linen garments in its window front display, and she claps two tentacles together as if she still had hands.
"Ah trust me, luck is rarely on my side. But that dress looks nice." Her style of shopping is usually picking the first thing she sees. Until she remembers a certain consideration. "But I probably need something roomier." She presses suckers to the window for a closer look. "Oh, I think it has ties in the back." How lucky after all!
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