EVENT ★ ZETA-12 WEEK 5

[futurologists]

ZETA-12: WEEK 5 As the journey wears on, the land underfoot dries out. Team Audiences has reached the highland desert… and of course, once again the squidges begin to transform. For each choice your character has made, select one squidge evolution. Please note, you must have submitted your choice to the threads in the previous logs in order for your squidge to evolve. For those who encountered the swamp creature: If they stood and fought, their squidge has taken on one of the following features: hardened pangolin-like plates of armor, higher tolerance of loud noises, sharp(er) teeth. If they outsmarted it, their squidge has one of these: slow color-changing to match the environment, catlike eyes with enhanced vision, long ears. Those who made someone else do the work, will have squidges with one of these attributes: small horns, spines along the back, mildly toxic skin. As for dealing with the tornado: Everyone who found shelter will find them with a greater tolerance for enclosed spaces as well as giving off their own very slight heat. For those who powered through, their squidges will no longer be afraid of heights and be able to float several feet off the ground, regardless of whether or not they previously received wings. THE DESERT (WEEK 5) The desert has a little more to look at than the grasslands offered, as the grass begins to yellow and thin. Some stretches are just wide, empty swaths of dust and dirt, with not much more than the occasional rock or low, desperate scrub brush to color the horizon. Here and there are impressive outcroppings of rock, thrust up from the parched ground. Plateaus and mesas make the scenery, and overhead the sky is a wide, clear blue. The sun is merciless. Hopefully you filled your canteens in the swamp and the grassland, because water is going to become a pretty valuable resource out here. There are a few helpful flora to be found, though. Those Beachwoods will be pretty handy if you run out of water, just so long as you keep an eye out for the Red Stellas that tend to grow nearby. The Scarlet Oasis can even send you on your way with a meal, if you play your cards right. Have a care if you’re gathering any bristlegrass, though. While scenic in its way, the view doesn’t offer much clue as to what progress has been made so far. Three days pass in this way. On the fourth day, however, the recruits encounter their first choice. The ground has cracked open in their path. It yawns into a wide and dark cave, wonderfully cool after the scorching sun and heat of the desert. A breeze can be felt in the mouth of the cave, and their maps will indicate that any exploration into it is sending them in the right direction. It provides an alternative route to walking over the surface of the ground, a much cooler route. There might even be hidden streams of groundwater down there, who knows? It could be a refreshing jaunt. Of course, recruits can also choose to play it safe, and continue overhead as they’d been doing so far, where they can trust they won't run into any dead ends or have to backtrack. The going goes well for those who chose the caves. The cave system is apparently pretty extensive, because they manage to walk along in generally the right direction for a good half a day. Around dusk, though, this little dwarf planet hits a run of bad luck. Meteoroids. Those who chose to walk above ground will find the darkening sky suddenly growing brighter again as a meteor shower begins to burn in the atmosphere. Some of them don’t burn up entirely, though — meteorites begin to pelt the desert not far from the procession. Some of them might even be scattering into the procession. Heads up! But while those above ground only have to worry about dodging, those below ground will have much more serious concerns. This planet isn’t quite as sturdy as recruits may be used to, and the impact of the meteorites is enough to trigger a small earthquake. An underground cave is really not where you want to be during an earthquake, because even this small one is enough to cause a cave-in. Players of recruits who choose to take the cave route can opt to be trapped by this cave in, or can have their characters in the right place at the right time, to have their way to the exit unimpeded. Characters trapped may be freed at whatever speed players find realistic, but to find and free everyone will take no less than three days. Hopefully you brought a flashlight. Communication between those trapped and those above may be difficult, as the meteorites will cause interference and make the jewelry flicker in and out. We ask that you indicate the length of time your character is trapped along with your sign up. After the cave in ordeal is passed, though, the recruits aren’t quite in the clear as they finally reach the end of the desert. It seems the impact of the meteorites and the resulting earthquake released a few gases that had been held under the surface of Zeta-12. They’re invisible and odorless, and harmless to the squidge’s caretakers. The squidges, however, may begin to react to them. Squidges exposed to the post cave-in gasses will begin to get aggressive toward their caretakers and other squidges alike. The level of aggression can range from grumpy to murderous and last from 10 minutes to a few hours, depending on the size of the dose. If anyone has been training their squidges to fight, they may regret it. OOC NOTES We decided to split things up a little! This log lasts ICly for one week, and OOCly for 1.5 weeks. Our next log will encompass the last biome and the final event, and will go up on August 11th. Characters may proceed at whatever pace they'd like, but going too quickly or too slowly will mean they travel alone. (And those going too quickly will probably have to contend with screaming squidges, who prefer to travel at the speed of an easy plod.) New characters will find one of the unbonded squidges toddling after the group takes a shine to them. A squidge will imprint on them very quickly, then refuse to leave their side or rejoin their unbonded friends. Direct questions about the Zeta-12 mission here. And don't forget about the bounty board! Please remember to select your choice in the thread below! Late choices will not be accepted. How you choose will determine how your squidge grows. Please choose before August 8th, 11:59 PM GMT!

Comments

02

[dailydouble]

[ Ahad moves without thinking, when he sees Sieglinde fall. He teleports to her side and kneels down, ignoring the wailing of his squidge for the moment. He'll rest hand on her shoulder, searching for any injuries with his eyes. ]

Sieglinde? Are you with us?

[ It would be difficult for someone who doens't know him well to tell, but he sounds concerned. ]

[grunehexe]

[How did she end up on her side again?

Disoriented, Sieglinde blinked up into the sun, mostly blinded, identifying Ahad by voice more than face. The sand was so pleasantly warm- feeling cooler to her than her skin, a trick of the mind. Was this dehydration? Heat stroke? She'd only read about them, never treated such a thing in the shady forests of her village, but she couldn't be more wrong.

The squidge in her arms whose skin had been growing more toxic by the day continued to cry, voice mingling with the newcomer.]

I am sorry- I fell...

[Her pallor was a touch green beneath the pale, and she wasn't sure if she should eat or not- why couldn't she remember what her books had said about such illnesses... She'd never had trouble remembering before...]

[dailydouble]

There's no need to apologize for being ill.

[ He's no god of healing and has little experience with illness himself. Her color is off and she's clearly faint, but he's at a loss beyond that. ]

May I lift you?

[grunehexe]

I do not mind resting...

[Here, in the sand? Apparently, though she honestly just said it in an attempt to appear nonchalant about what was happening, like this was business as usual, awkwardly rubbing at the red insides of her arms.]

You make very nice shade...

[Which was quite welcome at this point, really, his silhouette momentarily taking the suns direct heat off of her. But to confuse matters, she... Also seemed to be nodding in assent to his question.]

[dailydouble]

Resting on the ground like this seems a poor idea.

[ He sounds fairly dubious about her attempts at nonchalance. At the very least, she isn't apologizing again.

Setting his fussing squidge down for a moment, Ahad will kneel down and gently pick her up. ]

I make a poor shade, as I move to often to be of any real use.

[grunehexe]

Then, I suppose if you insist...

[She takes the graceful way out, if anything about her in this moment could be called graceful, head loling forward as she stared down at her arms against Ahad, normally sharp mind muddled with high fever and heat. There was a connection painstakingly just out of reach, here... Something about squidges... Touching squidges... Her squidge even then whining and trying to clamber up Ahad's leg...

Something about-

Abruptly, Sieglinde turned her head, stomach cramping... And began to vomit up the paltry contents of her stomach.

On the plus side, Ahad was probably only going to hit by splashback, unless he's chosen that moment to take a step. On the negative side... Well.

It happened.]

[dailydouble]

Ah...

[ Fortunately for all involved, Ahad had been hit with worse before. Vomit, while unpleasant, was not something he was bothered by. If he were not worried, this would be vaguely amusing. ]

Perhaps we do need to consider methods of creating a shade for you?

[grunehexe]

[Blessings upon you, Ahad.

For someone who's actually never been seriously sick, (unless you count the infections in her toes post nail removal after the binding), it wasn't something she was used to, despite knowing at minimum ten different ways to treat it. Once her stomach stopped heaving Sieglinde spit and sagged into as much of a guilty ball shape as she could, smacking her lips unpleasantly at the taste.

Something about... Rashes, and contact, and-]

And water?

[dailydouble]

Water is a problem that can be solved immediately.

[ He'll reach for some of the water he carries with him, mainly for the squidges. It's easy enough to go without, especially here when there are so many mouths to feed. He'll have to pass it to Sieglinde, if she has enough strength to hold up and drink from the bottle. If not, this becomes more complicated. ]

Take as much as you need.

[grunehexe]

[Thankfuklly she still has that in her, though her hands shake slightly when she takes the first swig, swishing the water around in her mouth before she turned her head again to spit weakly out into the sand on Ahad's starboard side.

As much as she was tempted to guzzle, she knew enough to keep it to slower sips, swallowing methodically as she stared at her red, puffy inner arms in silence, struggling for the connection, until she looked down at her whining squidge and then back to her arms-]

... I think I am allergic to squidge.

[Close enough for now.]

[dailydouble]

...that seems an odd reaction. I have not seen it among the others.

[ It's not her word he doubts so much as the diagnosis. What a strange thing it would be, to be allergic to the beings they're here to help.

He'll shift her slightly in his arms, to a more comfortable position. Beyond that, now that he's holding her, he seems somewhat uncertain about what to do with her. ]

[grunehexe]

Me neither...

[Allergies could be... acquired, she knew that, but it still didn't seem quite right... but as a comparatively healthy child, she had little firsthand knowledge of how a fever could muck up one's mind, as well as their spells.

Like wading through cotton, how unpleasant-

She thought she meant to say something else, but it didn't actually come out, still working through it woodenly in her head, staring at her inner arms and slowly... just leaning her head against Ahad's chest, still sipping intermittently at the water.

Seems she didn't know what to do with herself, either.]

[dailydouble]

[ Since she's so close, it's easy enough for Ahad to focus his will and do what he can to cool the temperature around here. It's still warm, but no longer oppressively so. He'll leave the water with her for now, unless it looks like she can no longer hold it.

It doesn't look like he plans to put her down, until he's certain she will be all right. ]

There is the potential for other types of illness. I doubt it matters, at this stage.

[ Unless it's contagious. ]

[grunehexe]

[Ah, that was nice. She'd thought it would be warmer, against another person, but it's slightly cooler... so she's more than content to continue tucking herself against Ahad's chest.

It was a nice chest.]

I have not... eaten anything strange, so...

[Surely she couldn't be a Typhoid Mary, the first of many victims to come... where could she have contracted something? THe swamp? Other people would be showing then, though, and it was just her...]

I will just take... a small nap.

[And a last sip of water.]

[dailydouble]

Ah. [ There's some hesitation, before he continues. ] Is this...comfortable? For napping?

[ This is, perhaps, more awkward than he intended. Nevertheless, he's fully prepared to carry her while she naps. He is like one of the very few who could do so, without the effort becoming burdensome. ]