![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pumpkinhollow) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ph_memes2024-06-04 07:30 pm
TDM #6 - The Wheel Turns [REPRINT]
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. This is specifically for TDMs unless otherwise stated. Thank you!
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 [REPRINT]
Weather Forecast: Fog in early mornings, occasional rain, otherwise clear and slightly hot. Often muggy.
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.
Page 1
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.
no subject
'You went home!' Tayrey absolutely beams with delight. 'I knew it. I knew believing everything our captor said was a mistake. It was never hopeless. I'm so glad you got home.'
Then the smile fades, as she has to tell the rest of the story. 'I died,' she admits. 'I tried so hard, but all my accelerated healing did was draw out my death. I knew I was getting worse. Turns out those injuries just weren't survivable. I died, and then Citizen Mortanne revived and healed me. Gave me that choice. She was able to reach me because we had breached the barrier and sent out that beacon, I'm sure of it.'
Tayrey has turned intense, now. This matters to her. 'I chose to live because I was assured I'd never be returned to that intolerable prison, and if I help these people bring down their own barrier, I can go home. But you must know that part.' Determination fades into concern. 'What happened to you, back home?' Only death could have brought her here.
no subject
She swallows, draws back a little further but keeps hold of Tayrey's hands. "We were both right," she says, "and both wrong. I've had time to think it over, and I -- I didn't think I would ever get the chance to tell you. The one who sent the red string did lie to us, and did turn on us, but if we hadn't used it we'd never have been able to break the bubble and get away. You did save us, in the end, even after you were gone."
(That last question she doesn't answer. Mostly because she needs to say this, before anything else.)
no subject
She pushes down the response that she wants to give, which is that if she flew in to answer a distress call and discovered that the person who had sent it had been brutally murdered before she could reach them, she might not feel obliged to keep her side of the bargain either, and that a vague oh, she vanished wasn't really any better.
What she does say is quiet. Flat. 'If you stood by Clarke Griffin, I'm grateful to you. But I don't want to talk about that place. About disagreements that don't mean anything now. This place is my liberation, and that Citizen Mortanne patched up my body so well doesn't mean there's not still a lot of damage. I have to let it alone, to have any chance of healing.'
no subject
A misstep, she thinks with a moment's complicated ruefulness; just like old times.
"I'll say only that here and now, you have my gratitude, and my respect."
no subject
(Besides, such honesty it has its utility. People who insist they're going to bring it up anyway are flashing a bright signal light of warning right at her. Cassandra doesn't, and Tayrey is assured now at least that there's no grudge there, nothing for her to worry over.)
'Thank you,' she says carefully. 'I value that. I'm so glad you're alive.' Not here, not when Cassandra could be at home instead - and her avoidance of that topic hasn't gone unnoticed, but Tayrey refrains from prying into it. It's almost certainly painful; it's for Cassandra to decide what she shares, and when.
'It gives me hope that some of the others reached home, too,' she says then. Her friends. The innocent people caught up in a horrific situation. There are others that Tayrey hopes are dead and stay that way - and she can hope for that with a clear conscience. She hadn't wished that imprisonment or the utter horror of the Nothing on even the worst of them, but death? Certainly. Another thought to keep very much to herself.
no subject
(She's thinking of Helena, of Grace, of Ava, of Max, of Natsuno.)
"I didn't think it was likely I'd ever have a chance to find out."
no subject
The young lieutenant's eyes light up in amazement and delight, and she squeezes Cassandra's hands.
'Crichton? Our Crichton is alive and well?!'
no subject
no subject
'Lots of us escaped to this place from the ship,' she tells Cassandra then. She doesn't know all the names, doesn't know if she has encountered them all, but she'll try. 'Fever,' she says first, their other comrade. 'Ava and Peter,' because Ava hadn't had a safe home to return to. 'Edgar. Dimitri. Wilson Higgsbury. Mulcahy who made it out from the Village, and - did you meet that tall glowing skeletal type there, the Fuelweaver? He made it too.' She doesn't wait for an answer, just carries on with her list. 'Jeff, um... and that woman with the sharp teeth, Daisy.' Tayrey sounds less enthusiastic about her, but she's not to know which people matter to Cassandra, and Tayrey might be wary of Daisy but she's not close to being one of the people she'd rather wish death on. She's glad they're all free.
That Fever is the only other member of their group who made it here must be very apparent, but at least Tayrey has hope that they might have ended up somewhere else. Somewhere safe.
no subject
"That's so wonderful! If so many of us made it out, and somewhere better ... that gives me much more hope that all of us did."
She presses Tayrey's hands once more, and releases them. "Have I mentioned how very good it is to see you? And looking so well."
no subject
She takes a deep breath, forces herself to set all that aside, and smiles back at Cassandra. 'Thank you. Better than before, I know.' There's something of a tired look about her, but it's ordinary, not the product of unbearable stress and despair, and of course she's strong and healthy and without a mark on her. 'This place isn't perfect, but we chose to be here, and there's a way out, and that makes it infinitely better. I've made new friends here. I have a business! I don't know how much you were told about it, but I'll do whatever I can to help you get settled. You're my comrade still, and, -oh.'
Tayrey changes topic suddenly, something important occurring to her. 'I kept my word. I didn't tell a single person here that anyone else was involved in... what happened. That's for you to tell or not, as you choose.'
no subject
(And if an inner part of her, constantly on guard, has been weighing the likelihood that they've been lied to about the way out ... well. Nobody else needs to be troubled with that, just yet.)
The last words strike a chord, and she gives a somber smile. "I'm glad to know that. Some already knew I was involved, and I have no doubt others suspected, but ... I don't know what any of those here knew. We'll see what they have to say."
A pause. "And ... I kept my word as well, when we lost you. Never a passenger."
no subject
And then they do sink in, and Tayrey feels tears pricking at her eyes all over again, because despite all the pain, that's proof that she was valued, after she was gone. Acts of value - of kindness, like that, still touch her deeply, this damaged young woman who gave up on expecting them.
'Thank you for that. It means more than I can say. And thank you for... being kind to me, when I was too badly injured to offer fair contract.' Tayrey doesn't perceive it as debt, exactly, not considering the context. They were a team, that was part of what it meant - but that doesn't mean she can't appreciate it now. Her last days had been awful, but they'd have been so much worse without people she could trust to care for her.
'I... Fever and I held a private memorial here. We thought you were lost, too.' Ari had been more certain than Fever, because Tradeliners tend to make such assumptions about missing spacers - she's never been happier to be wrong. 'I couldn't do all I should have. Attend to all the responsibilities of a commander - but I spoke for you too. Cassandra is a de Rolo.'
no subject
"I shouldn't be surprised," she says. "Not even a little. If I know one thing about you, it's that you hold to your word. Thank you. It's -- it's good to be remembered."