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Jul 1, 2017 13:47:43 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Jul 1, 2017 13:47:43 GMT -7
So far, all of Alicia's attempts at gaining the ability to use magic had failed. It never seemed to matter how much time she spent in Twilight Jungle, she remained completely normal. It put a damper on her plans, but after a week of brooding on it she came up with a new one. The jungle was scary, absolutely terrifying. Enough so that she wasn't quite prepared to try exploring it again. Sure, she tried, but just getting to the wall made her body break out in a cold sweat and made her stomach want to escape from her body through her mouth. It wasn't happening, at least not right now. So, why not try the wasteland? She never did get magic, so it shouldn't kill her too fast. Hopefully. Plus, if something weird did happen maybe it'd be a sign that she did have magical abilities and just hadn't noticed them yet. It seemed like a good idea at the time at least.
Arriving at the edge of the city made it seem like less of a good idea. They really weren't kidding when they said there was nothing out there. There was only sand as far as the eye could see with no signs of life. In a way, it was even scarier than the jungle. It was...quiet, eerily so, and just looking at it made her feel a bit lonely. Even if it was only intended to be a quick trip to get an idea of what she was getting into, she could already feel her breath getting caught in her throat. Alicia looked over her shoulder back at the city. It'd be easy to go back and let things continue as they were. She didn't need the extra money, even if it might make life better, she would survive just fine without it.
After a deep breath, Alicia narrowed her eyebrows and stepped forward. She prepared herself for this, and she thought about it for a long time. It was important, and she wasn't going to back down because it was a little scary.
((Because the site just opened, the time to join this thread has been extended from 2 days to 7 days. Take your time!))
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Jul 6, 2017 17:38:50 GMT -7
Post by Etude Amaryllis on Jul 6, 2017 17:38:50 GMT -7
The jungle was great. It had impossibly tall and green trees. It was brimming with life that could be eaten or would try to eat you, and was theorized by very smart experts to hold the secrets of how all of it was remotely possible. The wasteland was, by comparison, extremely empty and dull. First impressions consisted of rocks and more rocks, and the best parts of it were even more rocks.
Etude was convinced that there had to be more to the wasteland than just that. First off, the wasteland was huge. The circumference of the jungle could be walked around if one really put their mind to it, but the wasteland was so big you couldn’t see the end of it from anywhere in the city. There was plenty of room for another jungle or five, just under the surface or behind some really big, really distant rocks. Plus, the place was still in dire need of someone with a journal walking around and taking notes. Who could say with absolute certainty there weren’t giant shark dragons swimming through the dirt out there?
It was about time she gave the wasteland a visit, and so she’d slapped on an old tank top with the faded logo of an old television show, a pair of shorts missing a chunk on one leg’s bottom rim (fault went to poorly tempered plant with very large thorns), and threw food, water, and her sword into the back of a buggy rented from the Surveying Association. The day ahead of her and the city behind her, she set the small vehicle in gear and departed out into the great unassuming unknown.
It wasn’t long before she spotted another figure, a bit off to the left and seemingly headed into the wasteland as well. She’d thought it a little sad to have to go exploring by herself, and as much as she wanted to believe otherwise, her chances of finding non-human companionship was quite low. She turned and approached.
Once within shouting distance, she pulled the vehicle to a stop and waved with her whole arm to whom she was now seeing to be a younger woman.
“Hail, fellow surveyor!” She called grandly. “Would you like a ride and some company exploring the vast wastes promising treasure just below its unassuming surface?”
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Jul 8, 2017 14:12:06 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Jul 8, 2017 14:12:06 GMT -7
Expedition of day 8 New Sumatra lies on a flat area in the middle of the wasteland. The area is firm, but covered in a thick layer of sand. The only signs of life are directly around the city, where there are several mines and large fields of solar panels. Beyond that, there's no plants, no animals, and not even any movement. No wind blows, no water flows, there aren't even any insects. The entire area is completely silent, save for the sound of the explorer's footsteps. At the edge of the plateau the city is on, the land gently slopes downward. The angle is gentle, there are stairs in the city steeper than the slope. It has a few small rocks on it, but is otherwise just a pile of sand. The sand is thicker on the slope than it is on the plateau, making it more difficult to walk on. In the distance, other plateaus like the one the city is on can be seen, and the plateaus come in various sizes. But there's no signs of life on any of them, and it looks like they only have more sand to offer. There's nothing notable about this place so far. There's only the hope that something better is out there, and that maybe there's a clue about how the wasteland came to be hidden under the sand. --- The party has 80 energy. No one is injured. You can go to the left, further into the wasteland. You can go to the right, further into the wasteland. You have 48 hours to submit an action.
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Jul 8, 2017 20:05:37 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Jul 8, 2017 20:05:37 GMT -7
Alicia almost jumped when a car somehow managed to sneak up behind her. Exactly how something like that was possible she wasn't sure, especially given how much trouble people seem to have sneaking up on her. Being that focused on something probably wasn't healthy, so she was glad to have the distraction. At least she was once she managed to get her heart out of her throat and her heart rate back down to as much of a reasonable level as she could given the situation.
"Always happy to have some company."
Despite her best efforts, she couldn't completely hide the edge of nervousness in her voice. It went doubly so when she opened the door and got a better look at who was driving it. Sometimes people were easy to remember, but sometimes those people had mutations that made the process even easier. There were few people she could think of that were quite literally sparkling, and given the absurd way she talked, that narrowed it down even more. She didn't seem to recognize her yet, which was probably for the best. It wouldn't stop Alicia from making fun of her, but there wasn't much reason to egg on someone that wanted to work with her to do something dangerous. Especially since it was probably more dangerous for her. Part of her wanted to say something, but there wasn't a person alive that didn't already know how dangerous the wasteland was. It would just be condescending at this point.
In contrast to the officer's clothes, Alicia was wearing $100 pants with colorful rhinestone butterflies and an equally as expensive silk shirt. Both of them had a few holes in them from her trips to the jungle, but she preferred it that way. It pissed off her parents even more, and that was the only reason she wore her most expensive clothes while exploring really. It's not like she felt the need to show off or look fancy when to seek out danger.
"I'm Alicia, it's nice to meet you."
It was a fairly common name, so it shouldn't hurt to introduce herself. It'd probably make exploring easier if they didn't have to go 'hey you' to each other constantly. Normally, she'd focus more on the person she was talking to, but right now her eyes were glued to the windows of the car looking for anything even slightly out of place. She was sure her companion for the day would understand.
---
((NOTE: As I know far too much I will be taking suggestions as to what I should do. If I get none, I will RNG my action. My action can be changed if plans change, so don't hesitate to talk to me!))
Skill: Careful Appraise
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Jul 10, 2017 2:32:02 GMT -7
Post by Etude Amaryllis on Jul 10, 2017 2:32:02 GMT -7
“Alicia, then.” She repeated so as to not forget.
Something seemed familiar about Alicia. Her name, obviously - she knew of several other Alicias - but Etude felt like she’d run into the girl sometime before. Perhaps she’d been one of the civilians she’d stopped to chat with on duty? She had been working around the more expensive parts of the Commercial District last week, and if her exploration clothes were anything to go by, Alicia seemed the type who be found in a place like that. That was probably it.
But Alicia seemed nervous - it wasn’t hard to imagine why, considering they were headed out into a zone void of known life - and that was something she could try to counteract. “I’m Etude, glad to work with you.” She said cheerfully, punctuated with a grin and thumbs up. Turning back to look ahead and reaffirming her grip on the wheel, she declared with over exaggeration, “We’ve got what, a day? Maybe two? No time to waste.” And floored the vehicle, sending it shooting out into the world beyond the city.
Move: Left Skill: Strike
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Jul 10, 2017 14:28:44 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Jul 10, 2017 14:28:44 GMT -7
The land around the city is sturdy, but soft. Once the land starts to gently slope downwards the sand becomes thicker, making the explorers sink into it more than they had prior. Some spots had the occasional bit of harder rock, or even a rocky cliff face, but it was uncommon. The terrain doesn't change much, and gradually the sinking feeling with every movement becomes normal, expected.
It makes it so sinking just a little bit further than expected takes longer to notice. It makes it so a patch of softer sand around some rocks hidden under the sand is nigh invisible to the senses until the explorer is in too deep. Underneath this part of the wasteland lies a cave, and while most of it is covered in rock, there are clear holes in the ceiling barely held together with sand. Even sinking into it isn't enough to make to make all the sand fall given how fast it happens. The cave system is fairly straight forward and easy to get out of, the exit can be seen a fair distance away, but it's a good distance from the sinkhole, and it's not clear where it leads.
---
Splitting terrain feature was not bypassed. The party is split. Loot from this room: 1 Total loot so far: 1
The party has 65 energy. No one is injured.
You can go backward, back toward civilization. You can go to the left, further into the wasteland. You can go to the right, further into the wasteland.
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Jul 10, 2017 16:33:47 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Jul 10, 2017 16:33:47 GMT -7
"Well, I think my parents would prefer if I was back by dinner, but people can't always get everything they want right? Um...regardless 'not longer than a day or two' is probably a safe bet," she nodded still unable to shake her nervousness.
It was at this point that Alicia was glad someone came with a car instead of doing this expedition on foot. Sure, she didn't intend to go too far, but apparently she didn't even have to go very far for travel to get annoying. Even the car was sinking in the sand enough to slow it down, so she couldn't even imagine what it'd be like on foot. That and having shade and air conditioning was pretty nice. It looked hot out there, like the sand would burn her feet if she tried to walk in it without shoes.
It also made it easier to keep an eye out for anything that might be even remotely interesting. It was surprisingly difficult to do despite the lack of anything. Heck, it might be because of the lack of anything that made it so difficult to focus. On the one hand, if something out of the ordinary was there, it'd contrast with the rest of the area. On the other hand, it was really easy to zone out or mistake something subtle for just another rock or something. Thus, Alicia knew she had to be vigilant. If she wanted to be a proper explorer then she needed to look at everything and investigate every little detail that might end up being something. It was them that she thought she might have saw something sparkle not too far away.
"Hey, I think I see something! Do you see it? There's like something catching the light riiiiight over there," she tried to point against the window to indicate its position as best she could.
---
Move: Right Skill: Careful Scan
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Jul 12, 2017 15:50:26 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Jul 12, 2017 15:50:26 GMT -7
The land continues to be featureless, sand an rock as far as the eye can see. The sand is soft, and anything heavy will sink into it, so the rocks are a bit easier to walk on even if they're a little uneven. Unfortunately, the rocks have their own hazards. Sometimes, they're covered with a thin layer of sand, making them a bit slippery. The unprepared could easily slip and fall out of sight.
---
Splitting terrain feature was not bypassed. The party is split. The party cannot be further split, so the one participant is moved to a different room. Loot from this room: 3 Look from appraise: 1 Total loot so far: 5
The party has 60 energy. No one is injured.
You can go to the left, back toward civilization. You can go to the right, further into the wasteland.
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Jul 14, 2017 7:10:48 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Jul 14, 2017 7:10:48 GMT -7
Alicia yelped as the car was suddenly stopped and she was flung into the dashboard. That's what she gets for not wearing a seat belt she supposed. By the time she picked herself off the floor and got her bearings, Etude was long gone. Really, she was surprised at the speed that she charged out of the car to go investigate whatever the shiny thing was. It took her a second to get her bearings, but she figured she'd be able to catch up to Etude once her head stopped throbbing. Except that Etude was nowhere to be found.
Her first thought was that Etude went the wrong way; an easy mistake to make in a place like this. Alicia carefully stepped out of the car, closing the door behind her, and tried to spot her missing partner. But she was nowhere to be found. It was like she suddenly disappeared. Could that happen here? If it was Twilight Jungle she'd be less uncertain because anything can happen there, but she always thought of the wasteland as kind of a boring and mundane place. Granted, she didn't know much about it at all, so maybe something like that could happen? A lump formed in her throat and her blood ran cold. She knew this was a bad idea, but exactly how bad was starting to settle in.
To recount the situation, her exploration partner suddenly disappeared while she was recovering from the car stopping suddenly. She was now alone in the middle of a whole lot of nothing that was known for randomly killing people in ways no one understood. She could still see the tops of the city's skyscrapers in the distance, so she wasn't completely lost at least. In every direction around her she continued to see a whole lot of nothing, and questioned whether it was even worth continuing this expedition. It would be easy to go back, and she was feeling light headed and her blood felt cold. The thought lingered for awhile, but in the end she already said she was going to do this. She already decided, she couldn't go back on it now. Slowly and shakily, she made her way around the car to the driver's side, only making the mistake of touching the metal exterior and burning her hand once.
Once in the driver's seat she had no idea what to do. The only people that operated any kind of vehicle were people operating heavy machinery in the industrial district and people that went out into the wasteland. Given she wanted to be a surveyor, she figured she'd better get used to it really quickly. Her feet reached the pedals, so that was a good start. Alicia carefully pushed down on one of the pedals and the car jerked forward. She jumped and quickly removed her foot. It took a few more tries before she got the car moving at a decent pace. It was surprising, but she wasn't really worried. There wasn't anything out here, so it's not like her incompetence would make her hit anyone. It should be fine. So she floored it.
It worked really well for awhile. The pace was good, the city slowly vanished in the distance, and she was still able to look around for anything out of place. Then she hit some rocks. It didn't make the car stop like she expected something like that too, instead it skidded on the surface, went over a bump, and started soaring through the air off the side of a cliff. Having enough sense to know that this was going to go real bad real fast, Alicia opened the door and jumped out of the car before it could hit the ground. She hit the ground and rolled into the soft sand, so she wasn't too badly hurt. The car on the other hand was now missing a wheel and landed in the sand engine first. She was pretty sure most of the front half was crumpled despite the softness of the sand and that it would not be moving again. There went all hopes that she might be able to return it.
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Move: Right Skill: Careful Appraise
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Jul 14, 2017 15:40:53 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Jul 14, 2017 15:40:53 GMT -7
The land continues to be featureless, sand an rock as far as the eye can see. t makes it difficult to spot anything, but for the observant, sometimes valuable things can be found. And sometimes it looks like someone might have beaten you to it. There are disturbances in the sand, and given there's nothing living out here and no weather to disturb the sand, someone else has likely been here and dug something up.
---
There is no hazard in this room. Loot from this room: 1 Total loot so far: 6
The party has 55 energy. No one is injured.
You can go backward, back toward civilization. You can go straight ahead, further into the wasteland.
Scan Results Forward: Exhaustion
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Jul 15, 2017 16:33:17 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Jul 15, 2017 16:33:17 GMT -7
It was an odd feeling. The more she explored, the more she couldn't shake the feeling that the land itself was going to swallow her up somehow. It was unsettling and terrifying. Yet, it was also a little dull. Everything was the same, she couldn't quite tell where she came from or what she'd already explored. The only landmark she had was the tops of the city's skyscrapers as they continued to fade into the distance. Alicia wasn't sure how she could be this scared and this bored at the same time, but she was managing it. Clearly it just meant she had to have a little bit of fun to both soothe her nerves and make things a little more interesting.
When she came across the holes they reminded her of something that didn't even occur to her before. In the city, if someone were to put something in the middle of a hallway, it wouldn't be there in an hour. Either it would have been cleaned up, or kicked around. That wasn't the case in the wasteland. Who knows how long these holes have been here? They would likely be there for some time; as long as it would take for someone to come and bury them, and even that could take awhile because people didn't come out here often and when they did they didn't feel the need to clean up (or at least she had trouble picturing someone trying to sweep the wasteland). There wasn't even weather to destroy it. Alicia tapped her chin, and after a moment's thought, wrote 'ALICIA WUZ HERE' in very large letters in the sand near the holes.
It made her feel a little better as she prepared for the difficult path ahead.
---
Move: Forward Skill: Careful Appraise
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Jul 16, 2017 17:39:42 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Jul 16, 2017 17:39:42 GMT -7
The land continues to be featureless, sand an rock as far as the eye can see. The path ahead is even more featureless. Hard and completely flat, with salt baked into it and cracks running through it because of the salt. The shade from the hill the city is on is gone, leaving only the white ground and the sun beating down.
---
Exhaustion terrain feature was not bypassed. Party loses 20 energy Loot from this room: 1 Total loot so far: 7
The party has 30 energy. No one is injured.
You can go backward, back toward civilization. You can go to the left, back toward civilization. You can go to the right, further into the wasteland.
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Jul 17, 2017 5:56:18 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Jul 17, 2017 5:56:18 GMT -7
When Alicia first came to the wasteland she thought she was prepared for this. She had a hat in her backpack that she wasn't wearing until now because she thought it looked a little ridiculous. She had two water bottles: one filled with water and one filled with ice, figuring that by the time she finished the first one the second would have thawed. There were even some crackers and carrot sticks if she needed them. In her mind, everything should have been fine. Something like this was to be expected because this was the wasteland.
Then she actually experienced it.
Beyond it being really dull to walk across a desert with no features like this, it was physically painful. Alicia wasn't sure how long she walked, but her legs were starting to ache, she finished off her second water bottle before she even hit the half way point, and she was sweating more than she did when she put something weird in her grumpy teacher's coffee. Part way through it she ended up tripping over one of the cracks and falling face first into the ground. It took her some time to work up the will to get back up because even the scorching hot ground was managing to find a way to be comfortable at this point. She was starting to understand some of the things people said about the wasteland. It certainly felt like her soul was being sucked out of her body. The feeling was even worse once she managed to make it to the end and looked back the way she came. It didn't take long for her to realize she was going to have to do it again to get back home.
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Move: Right Skill: Careful Appraise
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Jul 18, 2017 18:29:02 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Jul 18, 2017 18:29:02 GMT -7
The area continues to be open with no safety from the sun, so when such an opportunity presents itself it's important to take it to get some relief. In this case, it's a long cave in one of the large hills, similar to those that New Sumatra itself lies on. The cave is cool and dry, though dark the further in the explorers go. Once the explorers are a ways in, part of the ceiling collapses, separating them.
---
Splitting terrain hazard was not bypassed. The party is split. The party cannot be further split, so the one participant is moved to a different room. Loot from this room: 1 Bonus loot from appraise: 1 Total loot so far: 9
The party has 25 energy. No one is injured.
You can go straight ahead, back toward civilization. You can go to the left, further into the wasteland. You can go to the right, further into the wasteland.
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Jul 19, 2017 6:10:38 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Jul 19, 2017 6:10:38 GMT -7
The prospect of shade was too good not to pass up. At this point her shirt was completely drenched (and therefore probably ruined given the material it was made out of) because she was pretty sure she sweated out all the water she drank already. Alicia was surprised she could even fit this much water in her body, yet there it all was slowly dripping off of her. A chance to cool off and rest sounded really nice. Even when the rockslide came, it didn't seem so bad especially since she was able to scramble out of the way to avoid getting hurt. She took this opportunity to sit down and rest her back against it.
---
Move: Left Skill: Careful Appraise
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