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wilderlogs2018-03-07 06:14 pm
wildermods) wrote in wilderlogs2018-03-07 06:14 pm
THE SQUAD DOES AN INTRO - [modplot] [event]
THE SQUAD DOES AN INTRO
In their homeworlds, they suddenly hear water flowing over stone, the wind through the leaves, and the gentle rattling of Kodama. The hushed sound of treetops waving in the breeze lull them to sleep whether they want it to or not, and in what seems like a dream they fall through a tunnel that passes through layers of dirt and roots and then through seemingly endless boughs of trees.
During this impossibly long fall, spirits whisper in their ears. They tell them that they must save the Wilderlands and the Green. They tell them that they will be given the power or weapons to do it - or that they're already strong enough as they are. They tell them that in the times they're not needed, they may find themselves trapped in the faerie realm known as the Brugh, but that the mirrors will let them speak, and the mirrors will let them see.
And they tell them that they're about to become lost in the forest and that there are others like them, just as lost.
When they wake up, they find themselves in the ruins of an abandoned city; the forest has overtaken it, threading new life through the decay, but the green of the leaves and vines pales in contrast with the broken buildings and streets. Every single building in this city was once a vibrant shade of emerald, and even now, after the slow ravages of time, the green ruins glimmer like they're hewn from precious gems.
The only things that aren't that bright shade of emerald are the statues. Countless statues are scattered through the abandoned city, shaped like men and women and children and pets, all dressed in 1900s era Earth-style finery. These figures are extremely intricate, almost too detailed to be believably carved by a human hand. Many of them are smashed and broken.
Some of the statues don't look human. Among the humans are little beings shaped like china dolls that are made of stone like the rest, instead of porcelain. And in the middle of the city, standing near each other are three strange petrified figures: an axe-wielding man that looks like he was made of metal before being petrified, a man who looks like a human-lion hybrid, and a living scarecrow. All three have expressions of surprise or anger on their faces.
When the characters are brought into this place, the magic that brought them in seems to have trouble getting them all in the same place at first. They find themselves spending brief amounts of time in one spot (sometimes just minutes, sometimes longer) before they're teleported again. Each time they teleport they find themselves near someone new, someone just as lost as them. Those that don't speak the same language may find some difficulties communicating, but over time, the magic of the Wilderlands will kick in, and plant a whole new language in their heads. This magic works faster the more they emotionally connect with other and find understanding without words.
The teleportation keeps zapping them in different places all over the city -- and sometimes outside it, where they can see an abandoned road made of yellow brick that trails off into the distance. Fortunately, the people they keep getting paired off with seem like normal people just like them, and beyond that, they're entirely alone in the ruins.
Probably.
✦ Post in actionspam format. Plots and mod-run events in the game are meant to be in actionspam format to keep a brisk pace.
✦ Please see the OOC post linked up top for more information about the event.
no subject
I'm sorry I startled you.
[If he can't tell the difference between backing down and a conscious decision to deescalate, well, they can have that discussion (or argument) later.]
no subject
Well, we should be sticking together, on account of the...whatever might be lurking around here. I get the feeling those ain't just statues.
[He gestures at the tin-man, lion and scarecrow. He doesn't mean that he thinks they're petrified people, but more like a warning, or someone with a really sick sense of decorating choosing the local furniture.]
no subject
Besides you, I don't sense any minds nearby, even dormant ones. That doesn't rule out droids, of course.
[They don't have the Wizard of Oz where she's from, and Revan has no reason to find the statues suspect on any front but artistic sensibilities.]
no subject
[He kind of smiles at the eyes a little, amused by his own stupid joke.]
You familiar with the people in those statues?
no subject
Should I be?
no subject
That's why I thought this was a place from tourists first, like a museum or something. It made sense since the movie's about Kansas, and that's probably where I was before I woke up here.
no subject
You might be right, but unless the picturesque decay is part of the theme, I doubt the place is still operating.
[She wanders over to stare the Tin Man in his unseeing marble eyes.]
no subject
[He walks over to the statues too, partially to look at them but also a bit puppyish, following her around. The idea of being alone at here gives him the creeps. He points to each of the statues.]
See, in the movie there's this girl Dorothy, and she ends up in this magic world Oz, and meets the tin-man, the scarecrow and the lion. And they all got something they're missing, like the tin-man has no heart and the lion's got no courage and the scarecrow don't have a brain.
[Dixon always liked the lion best.]
Then they save her dog from a witch or something. It's been a long time since I watched it.
no subject
So, a fable.
[She assumes at some point they discover they had the requisite qualities all along.]
Was Dorothy missing anything besides the pet?
[It's faintly surreal to be having this conversation, but what else are they supposed to do? Revan circles the group of statues, looking for an access panel for a holo projector or something of that nature.]
no subject
[He stares out at the horizon, partially to scope it out and partially to try and empty his mind a little of all this new information getting crammed in, then notices something in the distance. He points out at it.]
You see that? Way off in the distance, behind that wall with the chunk out of it. There's a yellow brick road in the story too.
I think someone's fucking with us.
no subject
Does it go anywhere important?
[Like maybe someplace that doesn't feel simultaneously like a mausoleum and a psychology experiment in how much green a person can tolerate.]
This place seems abandoned, but I'd still rather sleep somewhere I can lock the door behind me.
no subject
He chuffs a little.] No kidding. I wouldn’t say no to a bed and a bar, either. Wanna give it a shot?
no subject
You're buying.
[It's funny because she doubts either of them are carrying the kind of cash the locals will accept, if indeed there even are any locals.]
no subject
[He does smile a bit, though. Whatever, he'll buy (it hasn't occurred to him that the currency might be different yet - a lot of things don't tend to occur to Dixon until they become inconvenient in the present).
Mostly, he just doesn't want to be alone. He didn't really know what rock bottom entailed until last night snuggling his face to a shotgun muzzle, and it's got him scared. So until teleportation parts them he'll be following her around like a lost animal, trying to make small talk and more importantly, sense of the bizarre situation they've found themselves in.]
no subject
[That is the smug chuckle of someone who doesn't care about fairness, at least not when it comes to a bar tab she doubts either of them would be able to pay.]
I just realized we never introduced ourselves. I'm--
[--still a mystery, because the magic holding them there chooses that moment to hiccup, and Revan disappears between words, leaving Dixon with only the statues and his thoughts for company.]