EVENT ★ ZETA-12 FINAL WEEK

[futurologists]

ZETA-12: FINAL WEEK After team Audentes makes it out of the desert in more or less one piece, they'll begin to notice the environment changing once again. After the sparseness of the sands and canyons, vegetation and water once again become more common; eventually, they've found a lush jungle with plants and rivers both plentiful. And like the changing environment, the squidges once again begin to transform. Please select an evolution according to your choice. Please note, you must have submitted your choice to the thread in the previous logs in order for your squidge to evolve. For those who encountered the cave: If they went into the cave, their squidge has taken on one of the following features: a fox-like tail, an armadillo snout (with tongue!), or enhanced sense of smell. However, if they stayed above, their squidge has one of these: a beak, a prehensile tail, or enhanced sense of hearing. THE JUNGLE (WEEK 6) The jungle air is thick with humidity, light barely filtering down past the dense canopy of leaves overhead. Unlike the forest back at the beginning of the journey here, the climate in the jungle is almost stifling, so recruits may want to look for refreshing Rainbow Berries to snack on and keep their energy up -- but keep an eye out for the Lucifer's Poppy, as its effects can cause the journey to reach an abrupt end. Rivers wind through the jungle, with waterfalls ending in relaxing pools where recruits can try to beat the heat and spend some extra time with their squidges as the journey's end approaches. Like the other biomes, there are no creatures here -- no birds, no bugs, no jungle cats -- but that doesn't mean that recruits can leave their guard down entirely. Apart from various poison plants (such as the Beezlebulb and the Malboro) other hazards to look out for include slippery, moss-covered ground cover that may cause a hapless recruit to lose their footing, and the dangers of heat exhaustion. Unlike the previous biomes, there is no major choice for recruits to make here. Instead, they must bathe their squidge in the Wellspring, a bubbling, faintly glowing pool of water in the depths of the jungle. The Wellspring is responsible for triggering the squidges' final transformation and allowing them to grow into adulthood. In order for squidges to evolve into an adult, squidge parents must have completed a certain amount of tasks during the Zeta-12 mission. If these tasks were not completed, the squidge will not evolve and will remain in its larval stage. The evolution form can be found on this post. Squidges who successfully evolve into adults will grow in size, anywhere between 122-183cm (4-6'). They will loosely retain their rounded shapes, their limbs and torsos elongating, and any physical transformations will also grow with their size. In adulthood, squidges are less needy and frightened than in their larval stage, and generally have a calm demeanor (with exceptions made if they happened to pick up an aggressive trait along the journey, of course). Their language remains a wordless burbling, but they can communicate with their caregivers through gestures. After bathing their squidges in the Wellspring, regardless of the success of evolutions, recruits should prepare to depart Zeta-12 with the knowledge that their alien children are better, stronger, and smarter for the time they spent together. OOC NOTES This log lasts ICly for one week, and OOCly for 1.5 weeks. Once the mission is completed and the squidges are bathed in the Wellspring, recruits will have until August 20th to say goodbye and let their alien wards leave the metaphorical nest. Direct questions about the Zeta-12 mission here. And don't forget about the bounty board! After August 20th, Zeta-12 bounties will no longer be completable. Please remember to fill out your squidge success form! Participation is required to pass AC this month. If you have any questions about the form, please direct them here. Forms must be completed by August 31th, 23:59 UTC.

Comments

[conqueress]

[ That prompts a smile. It was Viserys who taught her how to speak, Viserys and sweet old Ser Willem Darry. Her speech is highborn and oft riddled with eloquence, and the Dothraki language is well-suited to sweeping sentiment.

Were the words applied to a person, she would deny his point--but they do seem ill-befitting a squidge. ]

Only if someone else were to hear you speak them, [ she answers sweetly, a note of play in her tone. ] And I say they cannot.

[ She speaks as though her judgment is the end of it. ]

[selfimage]

[ everything seems a little ill-befitting of a squidge.

where Loki is relieved that there's something that he can't mess up, there's also a draw inside of him that will miss the company, and the way that it had drawn him to others, however unintentionally. Loki was always quick to care too much, and was always covering for it. ]

That's an invitation, if I ever heard one. [ Eindride watches the two of them for a moment, dipping a head in a slow sort of way before wading off to see what became of its brethren. to Loki's credit, he doesn't even hold his breath. ] Is there anything else that they cannot hear me speak?

[conqueress]

[ Dany watches Eindride, formerly Bacon, slip away to join the rest. She will never have a little boy or girl, but at least one of her children shall remain to her, even if one day Rhaegal and Viserion find riders worthy of them.

For a moment, she thinks to give him an inspirational phrase. Some High Valyrian declaration of freedom, that he might use whenever he wishes. But Dany's belly aches with hunger, and what comes out instead is a jape. ]

Anha dothrak adakhataan. [ The syllables come a little more easily now, though they rake at the back of her throat. She rises on tiptoe to kiss his cheek in brief, wondering where she might look for more berries. ] "I ride to eat." [ She keeps it from her face, but she is very weary, and slightly thinner in the wrists and arms than she was. ] I am no god, to share my rations so freely. It is meat and vegetables I need.

[selfimage]

[ while there are moments where he'd certainly take the inspiration, but he can't say that he doesn't appreciate a good joke. when your life is mostly awful, there's nothing left to do but have a good laugh at it.

when she kisses him he has to tip over slightly until her lips brush against his warm cheek. ]

The kitchens wait for us upon our return: Milk of the shaken variety, a range of spiced sausages produced by the unhinged creativity of the mortal realm, baked goods baked in baked goods, and everything cooked in butter, of course.

I suppose we could consider this our personal kudos.

[conqueress]

[ There is very little Dany knows of the food served in his mortal realms, but she's certain that there must be a simpler term than milk of the shaken variety. ]

You will make my stomach rumble, [ she sighs, allowing herself a moment of vulnerability. ] Oh, do not speak to me of that now. I have loved to eat spiced sausages ever since I was a little girl.

[ A hand goes to his arm in parting, easier to touch from this height than his shoulder. ] I'm going to find rainbow berries. I cannot steal food from Drogon, and all that I had, I gave to-- [ Perzī, though she had taken care not to give it a person's name, ] --my squidge, [ she finishes, half-feeling as though she might weep again.

The words are part temporary farewell, part invitation. If he wishes to come, she would like the company, but she isn't certain he's finished looking at the pool. She herself cannot bear to linger. ]

[selfimage]

[ there is magic in sausage, a fond memory from a different life that settles on him like a warm mist. there are tiny promises that he kept to himself, ones that were not difficult to keep. he was half what he had been, half the boy that Thor had raised in the make-shift Asgard-on-Earth, and every bit himself. occasionally he couldn't tell the difference, but he knew that he liked sausage. it was one of those little details.

perhaps he doesn't want to be alone, or perhaps he knows that she doesn't want to be alone, but he begins to follow after her as she moves.

over his shoulder, he gives Eindride a last look. ]

You aren't the only one who's famished. [ he says as they leave. ] With all their inter-dimensional technology, you think they could send us with something better than what they gave us, eh?