ph_memes | Pumpkin Hollow Pen-Pal Program

Pumpkin Hollow Pen-Pal Program

PUMPKIN HOLLOW'S PEN-PAL PROGRAM

Welcome to the Pumpkin Hollow Pen-Pal Program!

Letters have been something that has brought people across Concord closer together in spite of great distances. Being cut off from the greater world has not only left people lacking in outlets to write to friends and loved ones they may not have time to see every day, but left our local post office alarmingly dry of service.

That's where you can help!

By joining Marrow Isle's Pen-Pal Program, not only can you assist in revitalizing our postal service and help to keep our couriers on the move, but through our pen-pal lottery, you'll have the potential to write to an acquaintance, an old friend, or perhaps a new friend entirely! Participation in the lottery is entirely optional, of course, as you're always welcome to simply register and write to your current companions.

To participate, all you need to do is provide your mailing address via the form below, and the post office will provide you envelopes, paper, and ink, free of charge! We look forward to seeing new bonds formed through writing!

-Created with love by the Autumn Leaves Dormitory House, graciously hosted by the Marrow Isle Postal Service.

To sign up for a pen-pal, all you have to do is:

Create a toplevel for your character that will serve as their pen-pal inbox, filling out the form below! For addresses, you may either the specific address you picked from the reference sheet or just their neighborhood if you haven't picked one.
Reply to the Lottery comment to be entered into the lottery before the listed deadline. New lotteries to be assigned a new pen-pal will occur monthly, so feel free to sign up every month, just once, or as desired! (Be sure to have your toplevel comment inbox set up before pen-pals are assigned!)
If you do not want a randomly assigned partner, no worries! You can simply have one of your characters send a letter directly to another character's inbox.
When you are given your recipient, send them a starting letter in their inbox, and you will receive one from whoever was assigned yours! It will work like Secret Santa, resulting in two letter threads.
Letter threads can last as long as you want, but if you sign up again the following month, you'll get two more. Budget your energy appropriately!

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To the inbox of Ms. Fever, Age 🙂
115 Goldleaf Street, Apartment 2E
Downtown Hollow

(The letter appears one afternoon, written in an elegant script)

To my dearest friend,

I know we cross paths often, but sometimes things are easier to say in a message, where my heart can flow freely without shame.I never really got to thank you properly for your gift. I have lived so long without much thought to a birthday that I never really felt the need for one. Before the Eterna, there was never anyone I wanted to celebrate with, so despite my many fake birthdays, they never held meaning. On the Eterna, there was never a need to celebrate in such darkness. But here, as much as I protest, and as much as I still desire only something small, I find myself eager to see what you and the rest of my loved ones will come up with.

I hope we can soon spar, though I understand if tensions are still too high for us to accomplish it without harming one another. If nothing else, you should come for tea, Max attained some that is quite lovely, I believe it has rose petals and lavender, both very soothing and fragrant flavors.

Sincerely,
Valdis

[the return letter's handwriting is not as elegant, but it is steady.]

Dear Valdis,

I'm glad that my gift brings you so much joy. After so long, and so many years as you've mentioned, I feel it's long overdue for you to have at least one birthday you enjoy and that you look forward too. At least on my end, I can promise it will be small, something only for you and your dearest. It'll be fun, and the best part is that it won't just happen once.

As to both your offers, I happily accept. I've never had tea with flowers in it, and I'm eager to see how it will taste - though if Max picked it, I'm sure it's wonderful. And as to sparring, you needn't worry. Enough has passed through me that we would be safe and in control, though you may need to call it if I seem to be forgetting myself. It's contained for now, and therefore it is manageable.

Write back soon.

-Fever

Dearest Fever,

Apologies for the delay in returning your letter, life has become rather busy this month. I hope we shall find time to spar soon, my skills can only take me so far when our opponents are demons. Revelations is up for the task, but I now have people to lose and I fear that leaves me in a vulnerable position. I never thought I would need more power, but I am far from the Queen I once was.

As one of those I trust most, I do have a question for you.

There is someone here I feel a connection to, but I cannot for the life of me recall how I know them. Have you ever had such a feeling? Did you find an answer?

Sincerely,
Valdis

Dear Valdis,

That depends on what sort of connection you feel. Every time I have had such a feeling, with the truth of the matter lost to me, it has never boded well. But then again, my past is not one strewn with trust, or pleasant memories to find.

Take my words as not a deterrent, but just a caution to be on your guard. What is the real harm in pursuing it, if you feel there's something there? Perhaps you will both discover the truth, and it will be a happier outcome than you think. No other way to find out.

-Fever

Fever,

I appreciate your council. I know your past is as bloody as mine, but I do feel like this person is not part of that time in my life. The feeling is difficult to explain, but it's like something is missing and when they are there that hole is filled. I believe I would remember someone like that, but their face is unfamiliar to me and they do not appear to know me either.

I shall dwell on it, perhaps this is a mystery I can solve.

There is more to say on other developments, but that shall have to wait until we meet in person, I do not think it safe to put it into writing.

Sincerely,
Valdis

Valdis,

If you have found such a person, then I am happy for you. Connection or not, you deserve someone you are so comfortable around, and I hope that such only continues to grow, as you learn or re-learn each other. Bring me more good news as you do.

My door is always open to you, day or night, to discuss whatever you would. I'm probably awake anyway.

-Fever

Fever,

I suppose we could all use good news in this place. I do enjoy it here far more than the Eterna, and even more than my home. I have you all here and that's so strange to think of how much I've been missing.

I appreciate your friendship and hope you know that my door is also always open to you. I should also advise you that I can hear you from a long distance now, if you need me all you must do is call and I will find you.

Sincerely,
Valdis

Valdis,

You know my first thought is how long you've been able to do such a thing, and whether now I must go into the depths of Paradesium to have conversations in private. Of course, I don't truly mean that. It's a relief to know that should I need, I can simply call. Who knows when it will end up needed?

I was told something the other day, regarding one's home. There's always the possibility of building one, if you lack one, though it will be difficult. One may try and fail completely. But it can be done. I think if this place brings you true happiness, then there's no reason it cannot be your home that you built for yourself.

-Fever

Fever,

It's simply a power of mine that I can give to others I care for, don't worry, it's not an invasion of your privacy, I will only hear you if you want me to. It may prove useful here, where we are always on the cusp of something going wrong.

I agree that a home can be built, but as someone who can be more beast than man, I find it is the people whom I love that make a place home. That number grows smaller, but I hope that new people can help heal those broken pieces when they occur. It's funny, I spent most of my free life as a lone wolf, and yet now I crave the comfort of others.

I didn't realize I was missing out on so much.

Sincerely,
Valdis

Valdis,

Aren't wolves supposed to have packs? That's what I've heard, anyway. They've got their friends and family and all else. Even those they can't stand. All the pieces of a wolf community.

-Fever

Fever,

My pack would have eaten each other alive if they could, there was no family to be found in their midst. I got out, but there was a price and I have been paying for it ever since.

With such a history is there any wonder why I denied connection for so long?

Sincerely,
Valdis

Valdis,

No wonder at all. You hardly need to explain such actions to me. That you've opened yourself to connection now is enough, in my eyes. It took a long time, but now, it sounds like you can build your home out of the family and friends you're keeping. But let me not preach to you things you already know.

-Fever

Fever,

I don't consider it preaching. You are the first I have met who can truly understand the life I have lived. Many have asked, but I cannot tell them these things, no matter how much they want to know. Perhaps I shouldn't even tell you, but to be by the side of someone who sees all of me, to be able to tell someone the truth without fear, is such a relief and a gift.

I hope you feel the same.

Sincerely,
Valdis

Valdis,

I do. Coming across another who I can be fully honest with is more precious than you realize. I have had companionship, but it does not always go hand in hand with understanding, or taking me seriously when I've tried to state the troubles I've had. Being able to have that perhaps the only way I can learn to live with it without wanting to crawl out of my own skin.

Someone told me once that I balk at the idea of the long term. I think it's easier to consider when I know I don't have to deal with everything on my own.

-Fever

Fever,

I understand what you are saying as my affection for you goes beyond companionship. It is not the same as what I feel for Max, nor is it the same as what I feel for Crichton, whom I call my brother. Truthfully I do not know how to describe it, but it is similar enough for me to call it love of some kind. Perhaps that is a bit forward, and perhaps I am simply confused as trusting relationships are still new to me.

Still, I shall never leave you to face your past or present alone, and despite the pain it may cause me, I shall hold to our agreement should the worst come to pass.

Sincerely,
Valdis

Valdis,

Forgive the delay of this letter, for it took me some time to find the correct words to put to my feelings, and it'd be rude to simply flood you with all that I feel in an attempt to convey it properly.

You honor me with your words and your feelings. I do not know enough of love to call any of my feelings that to anyone - not the kind you feel for Max or Crichton or otherwise, but if love feels like the right word, then I will not refute you on it. The forms it takes are mysterious enough to not worry over whether it's too forward or not. What I do know is that I wish only for your happiness, and should you ever need me, I'm here. Be it for the past, present, or future. You need not carry the weight of all those years on only your own shoulders.

-Fever

Fever,

I wish for your happiness too, and I hope that someday you will understand the warmth that comes with different kinds of love. I cannot tell you which one is which, you will have to reach those conclusions on your own, but if it is possible for me, I have no doubts you will continue to discover more about what you want in life.

I hope to see you in person soon, until then, stay safe.

Sincerely,
Valdis

The letter arrives on plain, but nice stationery. It's written in bold, but neat cursive, and the paper is pristine save for the occasional correction, struck through with a line or blacked out totally....

Dear Fever,

Greetings from the Pen-Pal program. The people I've written to and gotten letters from so far have all been folks I know, but you're the first I don't think I've met yet so this is kind of fun. So far, this has been an incredible way to make friends, so I'm looking forward to my luck continuing.

My name is John Rambo, I live out in Northwest Hollow, the rural part of the area. I run Baker Ranch where I mostly deal in animal products at the moment. I'm not dealing in domestic meat yet, but I do actively hunt and I cultivate wild game on top of that, so if you ever need some just let me know. Not sure if you were around for the last lean winter we had, but I stayed on top of things by spending way too much time in the woods.

So, I should tell you a little about me: I'm 37 I just realized I'm sort of 38 now. My birthday was July 6th, but it was May when I came back here the second time...anyway, time is weird in this place. You're also the only person here that knows my birthday, I think, so I guess that kind of makes us friends now. (Kinda kidding, but not really. I have a strange habit of making enemies real easy, but I try not to.)

Sorry, getting off track: I was born in a small town called Bowie in the state of Arizona, in the country of the United States. Gotta specify that here, I know too many folks from worlds totally different from mine. Anyway, I grew up on a ranch which is why I started one a while after I got here the second time. That's something, too: I haven't met anyone else this has happened to, but I went home for a little bit. A few days passed here, but it was two or three years on my side. Then I ended up back here again, same deal: got myself into trouble and Mortanne told me I had died.

Let me know if you've had that happen. Feels strange, being the only one that's been through that.

Anyway, something else to know about me is I'm ex-military. Like a knight, sort of, if Army or Special Forces doesn't mean anything to you. I was trained as part of an elite unit to fight in a war that ~~didn't go well~~ ~~nobody let us win~~ [unreadable ink] kind of wasn't a war. It's hard to explain. Bottom line, it was bloody and horrible, and in a unit of like eight men I was the only one that survived.

That's how I know how to hunt, the Army made me better at it. I first learned from my mom's people, she was Navajo. That's an indigenous tribe in the world I come from, and after she died when I was young her tribe sort of taught me how to be a man and a hunter. I learned to hunt, learned archery, and really got to enjoy reading thanks to them. There's a lot of oral tradition, and I find I retain things better when I read so I got into it. Read everything I could.

Sheesh, this is getting long--I'm gonna sign off now, but I hope you write back. Make you a deal: tell me five things about yourself, and you can ask me any five questions you want in response. Doesn't have to be anything too deep, it can even be what you had for breakfast, and you can ask me literally anything. I promise to answer, and to tell the truth.

Have a great day!

Regards,
John Rambo

[what comes back is a letter in a somewhat neat scrawl, vaguely smelling of salt, as if the writer had chosen to scribble this all out on the beach.]

To John Rambo,

It was a pleasant surprise to get your letter. I'm glad the program's gotten enough support to keep going, to connect others and support the mail. But that's the professional line, and the truth of the matter is that I've never been in a position to be able to send letters before now. It's more fun than I expected.

To respond in kind - I work in Town Hall as one of their clerks, and I live in one of the apartment buildings. It's only me, so I don't need much space, but I did make it decent, if I do say so. Even if sometimes I'm only there to change my clothes and make sure the plant doesn't die, it's nice to look at. Before all of this, there was that ship some people talk about, and that didn't give much privacy, and before all of that, I was on a journey - we camped, but I chose to sleep by the fire mostly. Say what you will about rocks in your back or the like, but I liked seeing the sky when the weather was good.

I wish I could tell you anything like an age or a birthday, yet I don't remember my own. I don't remember a lot of things, as it happens. That's a complicated story. What I can say is that my world's different from yours. The world is Toril, the continent Faerûn, and the region I was in is called the Sword Coast, on the western shore.

Going and coming back hasn't happened to me, but in that ship, at a few points, something happened to me and I glimpsed some kind of future. It was enough to know everyone I was traveling with was still alive and on the right path. Even if I'm here, they're still doing well enough. We're all adventurers - that's my real profession, though there's no call for it here. What that means is that we're people who undertake tasks that might be too risky for other people, or deal with certain dangers, or really anything where you need someone to do something for you, now that I'm thinking on everything we've done. We explore and go various place, and at least with my group, we try and help who we can along the way. Not everyone's cut out to slay monsters or go searching for lost artifacts or the like.

(A few of my companions protest the idea of helping without compensation, but I've found if I agree to things with them out of earshot, they complain less.)

I'm sorry about the war. Wish there was more to say about that, but I am, and I hope your life here has been quieter. Baker Ranch is spoken of highly, from what can be overheard, and you should be proud of it.

That's a little more than five things, and if I sit here and think of questions, the sunrise will fully dawn and I'll miss seeing it. I'll send this for now, but feel free to write back with whatever's on your mind. Questions, thoughts you simply wish to write down, any of it. I'll respond.

-Fever

Edited 2024-09-19 21:47 (UTC)

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Pumpkin Hollow Pen-Pal Program

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