trainmasters: (Default)
Aurora Express Mods ([personal profile] trainmasters) wrote in [community profile] auroraexpress2020-01-10 03:12 pm

Event: Worldhop #1 | Part III

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!]]
bluediligence: (Do you think this help sets the scene?)

[personal profile] bluediligence 2020-01-12 01:08 pm (UTC)(link)
I wanna figure out the strengths and weaknesses of these shields. [ Taps the shield. ] But I think magic is still pretty new to me, so I don't know where to start.
bowtiedbones: (80)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2020-01-13 05:48 am (UTC)(link)
Ummm well, in my magic system, you've skipped a lot of steps if you summoned that without establishing its parameters beforehand... But I can run a stress test on it, if you want? Do you want to check magical or physical force?
bluediligence: (I found a recipe for holy water.)

[personal profile] bluediligence 2020-01-13 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
From what [ admittedly very little ] I can remember, these spells are supposed to be pretty ... [ hmmm ] ... spur of the moment? I don't know how to describe it.

But both magical and physical would be great, thank you! If that's okay.
bowtiedbones: (79)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2020-01-13 03:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Sure! We can check them both in my lab.

You may not need it since it's a different system you're using, but I can get you some notes on how we establish shorthand for our spells. Instead of just willing your spell to be a certain size or duration, having spellwords for presets could increase stability and reduce the energy required to summon it.
bluediligence: (Well I was the obvious suspect.)

[personal profile] bluediligence 2020-01-13 07:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[ you ]

[ are ]

[ SO COOL ]


You really know your stuff! And, ah ... if you wanted to? [ Fishes her pendant out from under her shirt. ] If you wanted to, you're welcome to study this.
bowtiedbones: (27)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2020-01-14 12:33 am (UTC)(link)
Oh! Is that a source for magic or the channel for it? I can totally do some measurements on that too and check its capacity.
bluediligence: (My friend's butler lost his arm.)

[personal profile] bluediligence 2020-01-15 05:44 pm (UTC)(link)
It's, uhm — how to describe it …

I power the spells and decide how I want to apply them, but the actual … framework? That's in the pendant. I wouldn't have any magic at all if I didn't have it.
bowtiedbones: (54)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2020-01-16 12:17 am (UTC)(link)
Could anyone use the pendant, then?
bluediligence: (Know what it means? Means he's a liar.)

[personal profile] bluediligence 2020-01-16 04:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Good question ... I know that I've got a ten-spell limit, but in the one memory I've got of using it, I wasn't thinking about handing it off to anyone when I ran out.
bowtiedbones: (3)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2020-01-17 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
How do you recharge?
bluediligence: (Don't you worry about the evidence.)

[personal profile] bluediligence 2020-01-19 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
I ...

I have no idea. Amnesia is a huge pain.
bowtiedbones: (1)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2020-01-19 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
Oh geez... We'll figure it out!
bluediligence: (What an unusual child.)

[personal profile] bluediligence 2020-01-21 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much!

You know, I've been gushing about magic a lot since I came here, but there's really something to be said about the scientific route.
bowtiedbones: (93)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2020-01-21 07:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Magic is a tool and a skill like any other. The more you understand about how and why it works, the better able you are to implement it.
bluediligence: (Do you believe in love at first sight?)

[personal profile] bluediligence 2020-01-29 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
It's part of every-day life where you're from, right?
bowtiedbones: (79)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2020-01-31 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
Not as much as you might think. Most people don't have enough extra energy to do practical magic, and even fewer actually practice to a professional level.