TDM #10 - Wither and Bloom [First Edition]

[pumpkinhollow]

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette: Spring Issue

We ask 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!

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette

12/13/24 | TDM #10 - Wither and Bloom [First Edition]
Spring Pokémon Types - Grass, Fairy, Ground, Bug, Normal

WELCOME TO PUMPKIN HOLLOW

By Yorick Aberdeen

The crop for which the town is named.

Greetings, Hollowites, old and new! We are pleased to bring you yet another riveting issue of the Pumpkin Hollow Gazette. Or perhaps this is your very first one?

For nearly two years now, the mysterious ferryman has brought new and interesting faces across seas and stars and dimensional planes to reach our fair island. Since then, our community has grown larger and infinitely more interesting--- and we’re glad you’re joining us! Just in time for the weather to be just lovely.

This time of year tends to be a bit lighter on town-wide events due to this being a vitally busy time for our local agriculture industry, but we urge you to get involved with planting season and spend some time in nature. Who knows? You might even catch sight of our goddess of Land and Spring if you spend enough time among plants! Just don’t look into the trees--- they look back.

We invite you, as with all those who came before you, to enjoy your stay at the Oak & Iron tavern inn while you settle in. Please stop by Town Hall to discuss opportunities for work and more permanent housing! All newcomers get 100 Brass in their pocket upon arrival as well, so we encourage you to take advantage of this as well. Reach out to your neighbors for help if you need it, and don’t forget to pick up your copy of the Pumpkin Hollow Gazette whenever you need the local news!

SPRING WEATHER REPORT

By Phil Connors

The breeze will make your clothes smell great!

Start dusting those homes and beating those blankets! The days are getting longer, and with it, the winds are getting warmer. Spring is here! We’ll see some days that are still chilly and windy, but the more warm and temperate phases will get more common later in the season. We’re also entering the rainy period, meaning flowers are springing out of the ground and we’ll be seeing some very beautiful sunrises on misty mornings. Color is coming back to the isle, the frogs are in the rivers, and the insects and lambs are in the fields. It’s a good season to be outside.

Which means it’s also a good season to do laundry! Join us for our Community Laundry Day, where we all do our much-needed chores together and hang-dry our laundry in the warm and breezy weather! Join us on the green for some team washing. Water provided. Bring your own tubs, soap, and of course, clothes!

COMMUNITY EVENTS KEEP TOWN LIVELY ALL SPRING

By Timothy Stoker

The gazebo in town square, beside the festival green, is the place to be this season.

Legend has it that this time last year, a packed ferry arrived with a mass influx of offworlders, and an emergency potluck dinner was held to welcome the crowd. Now, this reporter wasn’t here just yet when that happened, but stories tell of a gathering of epic culinary proportions that heralded a new age of prosperity for Pumpkin Hollow. Sounds like something worth celebrating! Now that the weather has turned lovely once more (as elaborated on above by our own Phil Connors), the town has decided to celebrate the anniversary of the newly dubbed “Harbor Day” by revisiting that potluck idea. Drop by the Temple of Sacred Roots every other Friday from now until June to sample the cuisine of your new neighbors and local businesses. New residents need only bring themselves!

Also, in the spirit of spring cleaning, residents will also be selling or giving away their old items every weekend, weather permitting, in a series of mass yard sales. Some of our more modern residents supplied the term “yard crawl” for the event, which was deemed to be fitting. So come out on Saturday and Sunday mornings and afternoons to see what useful used items you can take off your neighbors’ hands! It’s a great way for new residents to decorate their new homes cheaply and get some new clothes.

And finally, on Wednesday evenings the Festival Green will be hosting “Swift Social” events (to be held in the Oak & Iron in the event of rain). A reimagining of last year’s popular charity speed dating event, this new Swift Social is expanded to include individuals seeking platonic relationships as well--- though that doesn’t mean romance is off the menu! The 10 Brass will be used to support the town’s medical community and the Autumn Leaves Dormitory House for Young Residents. So come out and make a friend or meet someone cute--- it’s for charity!

Fearsome Fae Antics Cause Town-Wide Trouble

By Melanie King

Up to no good, probably.

Things have been getting tricksy around town as, apparently, the fae population are staging the prank war to end all prank wars—or so local experts are telling us. If, like this reporter, you thought you were just having terrible luck with forgetting where you put things down or waking up with horrible bedhead, surprise! You've actually been caught in the crossfire of the fairies' games and may be entitled to financial compensation. (Not really. That's a joke.)

It looks like their antics are escalating significantly over time from harmless inconveniences to active dangers, so beware of any unusual sounds, behaviours or visual phenomenon you may encounter. Alluring or pleading voices from the woods, ghostly lights, critters acting oddly—if it's out of the ordinary, think twice. Or it might be the last time you think at all (at least, until tomorrow morning).

Fiendish Floral Figures Take Root Around Town

By Yorick Aberdeen

How eerie!

Spring is a time of year characterized by new life and by fresh floral blooms. It’s said that the land is Serranai’s canvas, and flowers are her paint. There is no debating that watching the Spring goddess’s artistry come to life in her season of power is an activity beloved by all! However, the Department of Supernatural Affairs is currently investigating some strangely behaved plant life.

While sightings have been somewhat rare, locals have been reporting eerie structures made out of flowering vines or woven flower stems that take the shape of hollowed out humanoid silhouettes. The poses seem to indicate motion and appear capable of springing to life at any moment, but the strange figures never seem to actually move --- at least, not that anyone has actually seen. However, many have cited that upon looking away from the figures and looking back, they appear to be closer. Those who have had direct contact with these floral armatures of people are also reporting some kind of ongoing allergic reaction from the encounter. Symptoms include severe shortness of breath, unpleasant itching that feels like it is coming from beneath the skin, and intense bouts of emotion which vary from person to person.

The Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety is currently investigating long-term effects of contact with these beings and advises residents to avoid them. They seem highly resilient to fire, impact, and tearing, and while cutting with a sharp implement seems to have some success, it’s inadvisable to get close enough to the things to use such tools in the first place. Local alchemist Aeryn Sallek and local non-magical chemist Sally Boyle are currently working together to develop an herbicidal blend that is safe for human skin contact and potentially consumption to try and deal with the flowery menaces, which the Board of Safety has begun calling “Hanahilators”. But don’t let the name frighten you--- steering clear of these freaky floral followers should be a more than sufficient safety measure until the threat can be dealt with. Probably, anyway!

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Further Details...

Yard Crawl

Participate in the Yard Crawl as either a buyer, a seller, or both! When you take on a job in Pumpkin Hollow, you are supplied with permanent housing outside the Oak & Iron as part of your start-up kit, and most of them are full of old and worn furniture and clothes left behind when they were abandoned. Get rid of some of it or find something new at the Spring Yard Crawl! Plus, some of the native residents will also be selling or giving away their own old things.

Here’s how the Brass shakes out:

• Buyers can spend 50 Brass and get a haul of their choice of used or free clothing, furniture, or small decorative items. All of it will be of decent to low quality and relatively unremarkable design, so nothing extravagant. (Although a lone exciting knick knack could be considered passable!) Reminder that newcomers are given their first stipend of 100B upon arrival, so new characters are welcome to participate--- you’ll just need to mark that on your ledger if/when you app in. Ask for help if you have questions about this!


• Sellers can make 50B off of their participation but must make a toplevel. Only apped-in characters that are not Laggards can participate as a Seller.


• Those who are both buying and selling end up with a net zero of Brass, but all the aforementioned rules apply!


• Transactions related to the Yard Crawl can be applied to a character’s ledger three times --- once per month for the duration of this TDM!

Swift Social

Under the Swift Social toplevel posted from the mod account, join the fun by posting a starter with the provided code to create a profile card! Then comment on someone else’s starter with one of the following icebreaker questions to get started:

Which would be more surprising to see on your doorstep, a unicorn or a walrus?
If you could commit any crime with no consequences, what would it be?
If you were caught in a trap and the only way to escape from it with your life was to do something genuinely impressive, what would be your approach?
If you had to live on only one food for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
If you were held at knife point and instructed by your assailant that you must call someone on their sending stone, and if they do not answer, you die, who would you call?
Which would be most frightening to encounter in a dark alley: a ghost, an alien, or a horse?
If you could have any wish granted for you, no matter how big or small, what would it be? (Cannot ask for more wishes, that’s cheating!)
What’s a subject that you could confidently teach an hour-long class on with no preparation?
If you could instantly become an expert in any skill, what would you choose?
Make your own!

Be advised that you must post a comment with your profile card so that any Swift Social partners you have can reference it for your age and preferences.

Fae Pranks

It’s a fairy prank war! A few of the local fae courts are using Marrow Isle as their battle ground, since the demons made it trendy. They’re mostly out to prank each other--- but they’re also happy to practice their tricks on you! And fairies have some very odd ideas about boundaries when it comes to pranks. Here’s a few examples of some of the tricks you might encounter, ranging from silly to genuinely dangerous:

• A truly outrageous amounts of butterflies


• Sightings of Edwin the Headless Postman, a Dullahan (this is a played character that a mod will tag out with, please leave an OOC note if you’d like to opt out)


• Will-o-wisps that lead you in circles or into danger


• Fae dance parties that will have you dancing yourself to death!


• Missing objects


• Mysteriously spoiled milk


• Your hair got braided or extra tangled while you were asleep


• Weird sounds in Prague Mill after dark. Is it haunted?


• Strange women crying in the forest or by the Bluffs, but when you approach them to try and help, you find yourself suddenly in life-threatening danger!


• Create your own! Have fun with it, get spooky or goofy as you see fit.

Floral Fiends [cw: body horror, death]

Loosely inspired by the Hanahaki disease and the film Annihilation, Hanahilators are uncanny figures made out of flowers that move when they are not being watched. If they catch you, they will grab you, but seemingly have no interest in harming you as they will relent as soon as they’ve touched you.

However, once you have pollen on you, the effects begin to take hold, and flowers begin growing within your body, first in your lungs and then pushing into the rest of you. These parasitic blooms feed off of your strong emotions and are influenced by the emotions which define you. (Feel free to use the Victorian flower language to determine what kinds of flowers you get!) Once strong enough, the vines begin feeding on your body, destroying it and leaving behind a brand new Hanahilator. But don’t worry, you’ll be back to your old self tomorrow, so enjoy the opportunity to explore the island as a ghost! Apped in characters should remember to fill out a Death Certificate! It’s a relatively rare encounter, so don’t worry about running into one if you don’t want to.

Pokémon

Each season, new types of Pokémon can be found in nature around the island! They cannot be captured as the technology does not exist on Marrow Isle, but they can be befriended and kept as pets. Since there is no PC, each person can have no more than six. You can befriend any Pokémon whose primary type matches the list at the top of the newspaper. (Eevee can be caught in any season.) Legendaries are off limits for obvious reasons, and mythicals can be encountered for fun but not kept! Evolutionary stones can be found in Paradesium, the magical subterranean jungle beneath the mountain to the North. Every type will be available at some point throughout the year, so if you don’t have access to your fave yet, check back next season!

Comments

[misbegottendreamer]

Eventually, they arrive, and she ushers him in with a quiet motion. Given the time of day, the house is lit well enough by natural light, even without the inclusion of lanterns. Embers crackle in the hearth, keeping a stew pot warm, and near the hearth sits a fresh loaf of bread on an iron rack. The house is tidy, if plain, though true to the woman’s word, chimes hang in every room.

“Make yourself comfortable, kena. I’ll start the tea.”

[checkyourmath]

"Y-yes, thank you."

There isn't any real benefit to taking a seat while levitating, but Siebren settles himself in the general vicinity of a chair nevertheless. He pulls up his knees, one leg crossed over the other to give the impression of sitting casually, and promptly kicks off the shoes the island had involuntarily supplied him.

The bread is taunting him. Siebren can smell it, fresh and warm and entirely within his reach. How long has it been since he's eaten freshly-baked bread?

...well, no more than two months or so. Possibly less, depending on where he's been in the time since the masked woman last saw him, but it feels longer in a way he can't articulate.

"The chimes are very good."

[misbegottendreamer]

“It’s still a long way from a full sound-scape, but I feel such coverage is becoming less and less necessary. My echo-sight has only been getting stronger. Still… I’m probably going to keep adding to the array whenever I have time.”

And lo and behold, a slice of bread is placed in front of him, dense and fragrant, before Drelasa goes back to measuring the tea.

[checkyourmath]

Aha! So she does navigate through sound! Perhaps her mask dampens whatever natural form of echolocation the species evolved to make use of (presuming they did evolve; her casual mention of demons may imply the existance of purely supernatural organisms. He has quite a bit to investigate!).

Siebren suspects the bells at her waist serve a similar purpose to the chimes throughout the house. Their tones blend together well from what he can discern, but... no, windchimes really aren't his area of expertise.

That slice of bread is gone from its plate nearly the moment she sets it down, Siebren tearing into the soft warmth of it with enthusiasm.

A sheepish and somewhat muffled, "Thank you, s'very good," follows after.

[misbegottendreamer]

“You’re free to help yourself to more,” she calls, tone clearly amused.

“I can only imagine you’re hungry from your travels.”

[checkyourmath]

If only Siebren knew where he has been travelling.

"I-I would imagine so, yes," he agrees, wondering how much of the bread he could get away with taking without offending the woman. He'll do his best to act reasonably, gently cutting another slice without immediately shoving it into his mouth.

[misbegottendreamer]

She soon returns with a tray, on which sits a tea set. She sets it down on the surface nearest to him, then pours a cup for herself, placing a fragrant sachet into the steaming water. It smells faintly of fruit and bitter herbs.

“Now, where do I even begin with getting you caught up?”

[checkyourmath]

"I... genuinely don't know," he admits, imitating her motions with moderate success. "You mentioned a wedding, and the demon court, and wind chimes. I know that I have been gone for two months, and you didn't know whether I would return. I know that there is a marketplace downtown today, but I cannot speak to yesterday, or the day before."

butter herbs

[misbegottendreamer]

“Let’s see…”

“There was a contact plague going around a short while ago. Parasitic fauna would seed itself in the injuries of potential hosts and turn them into husk-spreaders. It’s not so bad as the last couple of incidents of plague and parasitism. It feels strange to talk about such things as if they are commonplace, but that does increasingly seem to be the case. I do not know if the persistent occurrence of day to day horror is more the fault of the demon princes, or Nyarlathotep.”

“Speaking of… I’ve been hearing some rumors that the more investigative in the village unearthed something recently, but word about such matters have a habit of getting stuck in Mephala’s web. Thought you ought to know, though, as little as I have to offer, considering what we both went through during that flashback into the history of the local cult.”

“I don’t recall if the Bizzyboys were well-established here before you left. They’re a strange lot, and I mean that most fondly. A sort of combination religious order and detective agency. Their second-in-command, Capochin, has been taking the helm at that grillworks- the Burger King, I believe it’s called. And the Bizzyboys were also instrumental in resisting the machinations of Prince Ephrain at Merrymeet.”

She pauses, thinking about whether she should share the discussion that happened between her and Magne at the wedding. She decides against it; for the moment, it’s too soon.

darnit you know what I meant ya nerd

[checkyourmath]

That was far more information than Siebren anticipated. Potentially very important information, given the mention of plagues and... whatever 'going through a flashback of a cult' might entail.

He exhales audibly, fiddling the hem of his sleeves as he contemplates where to begin in his own explainations.

"Are we in immediate danger? I- I am hopeful that whatever failures I am experiencing will resolve themselves with time, but... do we have that time? I do not want my lack of context to put you, or anyone else, at risk of harm."

[misbegottendreamer]

"I feel far safer with you here, yi aldahira, whether you have context or not."

She pauses, thinking. Why does he seem so uncomfortable?

"If I might ask- what failures are these that you are referring to, Siebren? Did something happen to you while you were away?"

[checkyourmath]

Siebren sighs again, pulling his legs a bit closer to his chest. "Something... something must have happened. I'm told that I came close to dying in some fashion, before finding myself here, and none of this is familiar to me. I feel as though I have been tampered with, in some fashion. Might a demon be capable of that?"

[misbegottendreamer]

She tenses audibly. Thanks, bells.

"Yes. Someone from Mendel's court might have that capability."

Did he... did he Blank himself? Did he not like what was he was becoming, and so he somehow locked away his demonic side, and all his memories of what that entailed? Is that why he no longer smells like sweets?

And then the rest of what he said hits her again.

"You say you don't find any of this familiar. So... you do not remember me, kena?"

No. No no no no no. She can't have gotten him back, only to find he's gone from her again. Once was enough.

She has accepted that letting him go would have always been the outcome of falling in love with a mortal man. Then he had begun his demonic transformation, and for a time it seemed as if they could live together indefinitely in less-than-mortal bliss. And then he had vanished, and she had accepted that she would have had to say goodbye, one way or another. She could learn to love again. She could move on.

And now he's come and gone again, and dashed her hopes in like a Hypersphere against a brittle skull.

[checkyourmath]

"It- it's something wrong with the machines. It isn't anything we've done, just a mistake. I-I know you. I trust you. I know you," Siebren mutters, trying to convince himself just as much as the woman across from him.

"Just... give me time. I'm afraid I don't know where to begin with regard to making repairs given the state of technology in this city, but that is no reason to believe repairs cannot be performed."

[misbegottendreamer]

“I… I don’t understand, kena. What machines are you talking about?”

[checkyourmath]

"My devices," he replies, intentionally vague. "I have, ah, I have some degree of bioelectrical assistance in tracking this sort of thing."

Siebren rubs the bridge of his nose. Any sort of discussion regarding his cybernetics makes him feel nervous. Vulnerable. He feels vulnerable enough already, surrounded by people he might be offending at any given moment by the simple failure to acknowledge them.

"I want this fixed as much as you do, my friend."

[misbegottendreamer]

There's a noticeable change in her tenseness, but what exactly it means isn't clear.

"Did... did Moira put those there?"

I knew this would happen but not so soon

[checkyourmath]

"Moira? Doctor Moira O'Deorain?" he asks, Siebren's tone brightening at the name in a way that contradicts all her previous experience with the woman in question.

"Do you know her? Is she here? Doctor O'Deorain would be capable of assisting with this problem, almost certainly!"

[misbegottendreamer]

“We have met,” Drelasa answers, tone profoundly venomous.

“She is no longer here. And if she were, I would not let her lay so much as a claw on you.”

[checkyourmath]

The masked woman's reaction is unfortunate, but Siebren can't say it's entirely unexpected. Moira O'Deorain is a deeply controversial figure in the world he came from, and she's utterly tactless at the best of times. Siebren just... isn't certain he has much room to judge on that account.

"I-I'm not certain why that would be your decision to make," he points out, feeling defensive.

[misbegottendreamer]

“You have trusted me to go to her in your stead, before, when you knew you could not trust her. Your words to me then still linger in my memory as clear as day: ‘My song, do not let her see how miraculous you are.’”

She’s audibly holding back pain.

“I would not assume to speak for you, kena, except in the service of your own self-advocacy.”

[checkyourmath]

Siebren's eyes narrow, filled with uncertainty. What benefit is there to distrusting someone who would give so much of her time for his own well-being, as the Doctor has done in the past and as the masked woman is doing now? But... he asked her to speak with Doctor O'Deorain rather than visiting personally, and there must have been a reason for it.

He needs to trust her. She has significantly greater understanding of the current circumstances, Siebren reminds himself. He shouldn't be making the decisions. It isn't his job to make the decisions. It isn't safe.

Siebren nods slowly, already feeling the stress of his reluctance begin to dissipate.

"My... my appologies. As mentioned, our current frame of reference is quite limited."

[misbegottendreamer]

She sighs.

“I know, kena. I know. I just wish we had some sort of clue. I don’t suppose you left something behind, that you remember?”

She slides another slice of bread onto his plate.

“I could always try going to the Temple, to see if the goddesses can give us some sort of sign. It’s a long shot, but it’s better than nothing.”

[checkyourmath]

"Something left behind," he repeats, contemplative. "I would imagine anything I possessed two months ago has been put to other use, given the length of my... absence. I do not recall who was responsible for managing my life here before. I have been directed to a tavern, but I am concerned by the prospect of staying in such a public space," Siebren admits, tearing his third slice of bread into sections rather than trying to eat all of it at once this time.

"I don't currently have records for the goddesses here, as with anything else, but I can't imagine any harm would come from prayer."

[misbegottendreamer]

“‘Responsible for managing your life?’ Kena, you handled your matters yourself.”

Has Moira already made him so pliant that he believes he must be ‘managed?’ Under mask and flute, she scowls, disgusted. She wishes she could ask Siebren who he would go to in town to handle matters of scientific expertise, but… it’s too late to gather that information now.

Drelasa doesn’t immediately say anything more, instead taking deep breaths and listening to the sounds around her- the faint resonance of the house chimes, Siebren’s fidgeting and breathing, and, of course, that unearthly ringing sound that only his anomalies could cause.