Event: Worldhop #1 | Part III

[trainmasters]

Who: everybody
When: Day 55, daytime
Where: The Aurora, and...?

Right on schedule, in the morning a message blares over the intercom in The Construct's robotic voice, loud enough to be heard in the nearby jungle, and coming from anyone's Chain who happens to be out of range:

The Aurora will be departing Origin Star in one hour. All heroes please proceed to your team carriage. All residents of Origin Star please stay at least 100 feet from the train during takeoff.

The Prince of Stars would like to remind you that non-heroes are at extreme risk of corruption should they leave the purified sector. Likewise, heroes who remain on Origin Star will no longer have the protection of the Aurora's Prism and may face unknown adverse effects. We sincerely apologize for any concern and ask that everyone give their full cooperation as we proceed to our next mission.

Thank you, and stay positive!

PCs have exactly one hour from this notice to say any final goodbyes to the townspeople, and gather any last materials from the jungle. The Construct gives a warning at 15 minutes, at 5, and at 1, and then the outer doors and doors between cars close and lock and the train begins to lift off.

Outside the windows you can see Origin Star slowly drift away into the sea of stars for 10 minutes or so, before the train begins to warp -- a fantastic show of blurred light and square sparkles lasts about another hour, before the Aurora comes out into a starless, sunless sea above a Star coloured in shades of pink and white and brown and speckled in rainbow.

As you approach, you notice things are looking rather... delicious? The scenery below appears like some fairy tale witch's cottage, made of cake and candy and other such sweets, with lakes of chocolate and peppermint trees. You can't see what all is out there yet, especially given the darkness, but you can catch a glimpse of colorful somethings moving below.

Ultimately, the train lands on top of some kind of small plateau, next to a river -- and this Star's Prism, which glows balefully black, with a strong sense of unpleasantness wafting from it. The river is thankfully between you and it, but you're still parked awfully close. When the train is fully stopped, the Construct announces:

Congratulations on your safe journey. We have arrived at the Confectionery Kingdom. Please note this sector is currently completely corrupted. Likelihood of imminent danger is: extreme. Scanning and protection of immediate area will take six hours. Proceed with utmost caution until systems have completed setup.

From here, you can go outside, if you so choose. The plateau the train sits on, it turns out, is made entirely of brownie. Unfortunately, if you try to eat it, it's disgustingly salty. The river full of honey tastes good, however, as long as you're willing to brave the lemon-peel eels which give painful electric shocks. The grass is also sweet -- spun-sugar like, it shatters easily but seems to grow right back as soon as it does.

You don't have much time to enjoy it yet, though. As warned, there's imminent danger -- after mere minutes, the air is full of crackling growls, as you're beset by something resembling a very weird zombie nightmare. Faceless moving gingerbread men as big as a person approach in droves, smeared in rancid frosting that smells horrible and makes you feel light-headed. They'll try to grab hold of anyone they catch, and should they catch them, they'll tremble and beat them bloody, possibly even to death.

Despite their nimbleness, the gingerbread ghouls are hard as rock and not easily broken. They can be temporarily defeated by turning them to mush with water, but once dry their crumbs will roll together and they'll resume their old form. The only way to really beat them is to accept their resentment -- give them a hug and they'll crumble, their dust blowing away in the breeze.

Somehow, you must survive the next few hours... Good luck, Heroes of Distant Stars!

[[NOTE: We're still taking train upgrade suggestions here through the 12! The upgrade poll, along with the close of this event, will be posted on the 13th! Also, apps are open and will close on the 14th, so if you have an app in the works or a friend to invite, have at!]]

Comments

[beeknighted]

[Stuck in a peppermint tree with raging gingerbread men jumping to get at him]

Where's a glass of milk when you need one...

[featherbeaned]

Mao! Maaaaoooo!

[ DRAGON INCOMING, flying high enough to avoid the hungry horde of foul-smelling confectionery zombie. ]

[dereban]

. . . were you planning on eating the gingerbread men?

[ just walking by here but not coming to help



yet. ]

[malignstar]

Would that be considered cannibalism?

[voreaciously]

[80H arrives in her black gothic combat uniform, and, instead of using water, she slices them down to ribbons with her naginata.

But they begin to reconstitute, albeit slowly.]

Interesting.

[She stabs them into smaller pieces, and once more, they begin to reconstitute.]

[bowtiedbones]

[yelling out a train window]

Why did you go outside!? Why are any of you outside!

[thunderbeast]

[ He actually went out to investigate the honey situation, but sees someone stuck up a tree with...giant confectionery people surrounding him? He isn't quite sure what to think, but he heads in that direction and the smell gets more noxious the closer he gets. ]

Do you need some help?

[He doesn't think about the fact that he might be drawing the gingerbread attention away from the person in the tree.]

[schrodingerscockroach]

[Oh, it's Meri's person.]

Want help there?

[Being loud enough to get some gingerbread's attention. Seems largely unconcerned as he pulls a gun from out of his clothes.]

[bowtiedbones]

[on the train and not leaving it for the next hours, yep]

Wait— Will things on this planet still have bones??

[malignstar]

The most important question.

[bestbrotherever]

Would you like me to find out for you?

[wontforbidtherain]

Do they have to be the same sort as human bones or would it work on any sort of skeleton?

[this whole world seems dubious and sticky]

[schrodingerscockroach]

...

[He's snickering, sorry.]

[thunderbeast]

[ The lemon peel eels were easy to avoid once you realized what they did. He was more interested in collecting the honey than anything else. ]

I should have thought this through more. There's no actual water.

[There are several containers filled with honey--and covered in honey too. In addition to himself, sticky and covered in honey.]

[dereban]

Well, maybe the creatures living here don't need water to live.

You seem like you could use a bath, though.

[ is just going to keep her distance because nuh-uh, not being covered in honey today, no sir. ]

[malignstar]

But when you do find water, it'll be extra sweet.

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ Dahlia is carefully avoiding getting in the river--one look at the lemon peel eels and she's having flashbacks of the tree snakes. No thanks.

From the banks, she calls out, ]

Wasn't that obvious from the start, Pukyuu?

[bestbrotherever]

[Before departure]

[Loki leaves the train just after the one hour warning, heading into the jungle. He returns between the fifteen and five minute warnings, looking slightly more weathered than he had when he left, but seemingly satisfied and yet empty-handed.]

[During flight]

[Loki spends the duration of the flight looking out of the window, as if studying the effects during the transit. He doesn't look shocked, or exactly confused, but thoughtful.]

[Outside train]

[Loki watches the gingerbread threat for a short while, shaking his head before heading out. He's soon mobbed by them, but he just stands there, smirking. And as soon as one touches him, he vanishes, appearing a distance away, the same careless look about him. This repeats over and over, his smile growing wider each time.]

You are rather dull creatures, are you not?

[malignstar]

[ This loser is chilling on a peppermint tree branch, black angel-like wings folded behind him (probably seeming out of place with the claws that tap on the branch), as a trio of gingerbread men try to smash it from the bottom. He's been watching Loki teleport around the place when the man ends up teleporting not too far from his location. ]

Well, that's one way to handle them.

[bluediligence]

[ Faito is not getting off this train unless it's an absolute emergency, thank you very much! ]

[ Instead she can be found in the training hall, one hand on her hip and the other rubbing her chin thoughtfully. In front of her is a shimmering bubble-like shield, faintly gold in colour and about six feet tall. It seems to be empty … ]

Oh, hey! [ Yeah, she's talking to you. ] Do you have a minute? I could use a hand.

[dereban]

I do, but. . . what exactly do you need a hand with?

[ she does see the bubble-like shield, but she doesn't want to make any assumptions here ]

[notafruit]

[ . . . Steps tentatively outside to peek at the new surroundings. Is it safe close to the train?

But then there is a giant feral gingerbread man and NOPE she's back inside and shutting the door. She doesn't have any kind of abilities and she's not sure that she wants to be smashed or eaten by a cookie. ]

M...Maybe I'll just work on studying...

[yearofthecat]

[ Well that was an unexpected sight. Kyou is glad to see her decide to not venture outside like she had the other day. ]

It looks amazing. Too bad it's just a huge trap.

[cawnflict]

[ he's sitting with his back to a ??tree?? trying very hard to be gentle as he washes what looks like... honey, it's honey, out of his feathers.

he hates this place already. he hates it so much. ]

[malignstar]

Let me guess. You tried to go for a swim.

[malignstar]

[ Felix is munching on some sugar grass while keeping an eye out for roaming Gingerbread Men. ]

This place isn't so bad if you keep on your toes. Though the chocolate fake-out is a total bummer.

[daydreamshimmer]

The sugar is a lie and it's terrible.

But does that mean you're doing well after all that?

[voreaciously]

A)

[80H is out and about, often fighting the gingerbread zombies with her naginata. She dances around and between them, slicing them apart with her blade and wetting and crumbling them with her magic.

But never permanently.]

Begin experiment.

B)

[She is otherwise exploring, getting the lay of the land.]

[malignstar]

[ Is actually flying above her for once, having had his fill of endless gingerbread combat after the first hour ]

Don't you get tired?

[schrodingerscockroach]

A
[Dusk won't be outside long. Just enough really to get a bit of the lay of the land near the train and making sure others outside are fine. Maybe come out to break up a hoard of gingerbread men because hey, enhanced strength can break rock hard cookies.]

B
[Dusk isn't interested in just sitting around though. After a fear affect, he needs to work all the tension out of his system.]

[So he'll be in the training hall, focused most on throwing knives at a target, but could be doing other things too.]