TDM #6 - The Wheel Turns [First Edition]

[pumpkinhollow]

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette May Issue

MODERATOR NOTE

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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Further Details...

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.

Comments

[mindflayed]

And thus marks the first time Imbros has been addressed as sir.

He..... does not know how to react to that. Suddenly he wishes the elf rogue he hates was around because he'd know what to do in this situation. Wow, this place is getting to him already if he's missing Faelin.

"I....see." tucking the sending stone in his pocket to buy him some time while he mentally flounders. "You have a different magic around you than the rest of this place."

Changing the subject. Smooth.

[misbegottendreamer]

“It is the same magic as this place. I believe what you’re sending is a differing in my methods. I rely on tonal casting, you see.”

That’s not what Imbros is sensing, but Drelasa has no way of knowing that.

[mindflayed]

"No, it feels... not elemental, but adjacent. Like a warlock who forged a pact with something abyssal." Something his research had told him was theoretically possible, but he'd never known it to happen in practice. Afterall, demons are not known for keeping their bargains, and can rescind their powers at any time.

"Tonal... You mean verbal components but without words?"

[misbegottendreamer]

"Tonal magic isn't so much a different form of incantation as it is a different way of applying structure to magic. And... I don't believe I understand? By what do you mean 'abyssal?' Something of the deep sea?"

[mindflayed]

"No, no, it's an outer plane with infinite layers. Nothing to do with the ocean. But ultimately it doesn't really matter here, I was merely curious." About what he's sensing off her, not actually about her.

He listens to the thrumming a few moments longer, "Does that not bother you to always be able to sense the world humming?"

[misbegottendreamer]

"Not at all. It is a mystery I am glad to be a part of. Without it, there wouldn't be much for me to observe."

[mindflayed]

"There's much to observe all the time, regardless of the background hum of magic. Or.. whatever is happening." He's not actually sure what he's sensing off her is magic - at least not that of a system he's aware of.

In positive news, she's definitely off the menu.

"The constant magic around here makes me feel like I'm in some elemental plane. I'm told it was due to a flood, in which case perhaps when it dries things will settle down into the background where they belong." It's overwhelming to constantly have his sense magic aura pinged by literally everything.

[misbegottendreamer]

“Perhaps I should be more open, muthsera. I am blind. The hum of the world allows me to ‘see’ with my other senses.”

A pause.

“I don’t suppose you’ve heard any rumors about what might have caused the flood? I would guess it was tied to the crew of parasites that snapped much of the town up, but I don’t know that for certain.”

[mindflayed]

"How clever. That's quite a unique use for extra sensory abilities, deciphering some amount of telemetry from the realm itself."

He's suitably impressed!

"Fever said that it was caused by external magics, but not the source of where those came from. But I also didn't inquire further, I had arrived only a few hours prior and had other priorities at the time." Namely not being stabbed in the face by her.

"A crew of parasites? You mean a ship of parasitic creatures?"

He sounds weirdly hopeful about this.

[misbegottendreamer]

“Yes. They were a crew of hollow men, manipulated from within by a hive mind of insects and other small creatures. From what I understand, they were all under the control of their captain. Of course, they have been dealt with.”

[mindflayed]

Hive mind is good. Insects is not quite what he was hoping for. There's a vague sense of disappointment that there might have been other Illithids, and that the 'ship' she spoke of might have been a Nautiloid. Something he's wanted to see his entire life.

"They were human shaped but full of insects? Or do you mean the insects were using some illusion to appear as humans?" Neither of those options are things he's familiar with, "Why did they cause a flood?"

cw: infestation mention

[misbegottendreamer]

“Again, I can’t say for certain that they were the cause, but they certainly benefitted from it. With the town stranded, the population was taken aboard their vessel, and they began to assimilate the townsfolk, one by one. The insects were in control, using the people they infected as puppets.”

cw: mind control talk

[mindflayed]

"Creating thralls to further their own purposes. Understandable."

This is where if he was human he would nod approvingly. But he hasn't been informed of all these humanoid mannerisms yet.

"Killing the leader destroyed the hive mind I presume?"

cw: mind control talk

[misbegottendreamer]

“I… was not there when that occurred, but I presume so.”

She’s a little wary after that remark. Having been a thrall for so long to the Sixth House, it’s a touchy subject for her.

[mindflayed]

"Ah." He takes that at face value that she simply wasn't there, and infers none of the implications that hesitation might indicate.

"Did the flooding recede once they were dealt with?"

[misbegottendreamer]

"Again, I do not know the exact timeframe, but I know it did not take long once they were gone. Apparently the end of their reign of terror was accompanied by the appearance of a... citrus pirate?"

[mindflayed]

He has a lot of thoughts about that, a couple of solid questions, but then he remembers where he is. Surrounded by humans and human-adjacent people. Whatever the stupidest thing he can think up is probably the right answer.

"Because the pirates had scurvy?"

[misbegottendreamer]

"I don't think they would have, considering how many lemons and oranges they apparently had on board. The island has a decent trade in citrus fruits now, because of them."

[mindflayed]

"That's actually reassuring in a way." Things aren't quite as ridiculous as he previously thought.

"There's trade? I thought this place was enclosed by a barrier preventing anything from coming in or out except the ferry?"

[misbegottendreamer]

"I don't quite understand how it works. As a blacksmith, I don't deal much in lemons."

[mindflayed]

"No, I'd imagine not." The average person might remark on a blind person being a blacksmith, but Imbros just accepts that.

"Is that what you do here? I was told something about ... getting a job." Said as if he's reciting that from memory rather than having any understanding of the words.

[misbegottendreamer]

"Yes. There's a job fair running in town right now, actually. You might ask about and see what's on offer."

[mindflayed]

"Fair as in festival? A festival of jobs?" This is an absolutely baffling concept. "I suppose I will have to, as I do not want to stay here any longer than necessary."

[misbegottendreamer]

"You do not wish to stay... here, in the middle of town? Or here, on the island? I'm afraid a job will not help much with the latter, but it will help you be more comfortable."

[mindflayed]

"This realm entirely. And no, it won't help directly but there was something about finding a purpose, and everyone seems intent on working so that seems a reasonable first start."