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

[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?

[malignstar]

At least the honey and the grass were real.

After all what? The star healing? Yeah, I'm fine. Don't think I helped as much of the others though.

[daydreamshimmer]

Now the question is if the grass tastes normal.

To be fair, I undercut a lot of the struggle for the final rooms for the runs I did.

Which is why we need to talk about a thing because I made a promise and because I have magical backing for what I'm gonna tell you. We should probably go somewhere like....you're okay with freaking out, I guess. And private.

Definitely private.

[malignstar]

Depends on whether your grass usually tastes like sugar.

[ He grows more concerned as she keeps going. ]

Why are you so sure I'm going to freak out? I don't freak out.

[daydreamshimmer]

Some grass can be sweeter, but generally not like sugar.

Because of a lot of reasons that really go into this whole deal. Wanna come to Senna?

[malignstar]

I'm going to go with not normal then.

... uh okay.

[daydreamshimmer]

No, not really.

Come on then.

[Gestures with a hoof for him to follow and heading off to Senna!]

[malignstar]

[ Following but looking way more uncomfortable than he usually does. Too bad Sunset isn't in her human form to provide some amount of distraction. ]

[daydreamshimmer]

[She can't do illusion work as a human, sadly.]

[And welcome to gothic manor, though it's a bit brighter thanks to Loki's illusions. They even have fake plants and nice windows!]

This way to my room.

[malignstar]

Whoa, talk about emo central. You guys need a zen garden or something.

[daydreamshimmer]

We've been talking about that. At least get some more plants and lighting.

Not like we really got a say in this place before.

[malignstar]

Maybe you should talk to Senna.

[daydreamshimmer]

...Celestia, they are just terrible at naming things in a sensible manner.

[U G H]

[Anyway, here's her room, it's nothing special since she hasn't upgraded it.]

[malignstar]

[ Looking around, hand uncharacteristically in his pockets ]

Soo... what is it you want to talk about?

[daydreamshimmer]

You might want to take a seat.

So, to preface. A thing I've found out is I'm apparently a very strong...telepath? Empath? It's a lot of being able to read minds and emotions and memories and stuff like that.

It's how I undercut the final challenges. I was able to just read Lily and Briar's past when I touched them.

[malignstar]

Who are Lily and Briar again?

[daydreamshimmer]

They were the totems. Natives on the planet. Found out their past, talked them down, didn't have to suffer thorny death to get the information.

What I can do is powerful stuff. And when I do something really strong with it, I end up with wings. A temporary alicorn.

So far it's only been twice. Once when I found out what the deal was for that cannibal game.

The other was with your body.

[malignstar]

Wait wait wait, what about my body?

[daydreamshimmer]

....

Honestly, there's no delicate way to put this.

Felix, your body has two souls in it.

[malignstar]

WHAT? What do you mean two souls? I thought I just had MPD or something. You're telling me I'm possessed?

[daydreamshimmer]

In a sense of the word, yes. Not quite in the traditional sense, your companion isn't hostile to you and doesn't seem to be parasitic in nature.

But there is definitely two in there.

[malignstar]

How can I have two souls? Don't you have to really fuck up to have that happen? Like summon something?

[ But there had been that voice in his memory? Had that been more than just a voice in his head? ]

[daydreamshimmer]

It could have been. [She shrugs her shoulders.] He's in the memory loss boat with you.

Some kind of summon attempt could have been messed up. Maybe an attempt to cross worlds. Or maybe it was something on purpose. Penric and Desdemona is apparently a thing that happens in their world regularly enough. If you were an orphan, you could have been selected for some kind of magical initiation. If it's not something you've heard of, it might be secret and using people with no family ties could easily be a common practice.

[malignstar]

Absolutely none of that is reassuring, just so you know.