Event: A Prelude

[trainmasters]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 8, evening
Where: around

[It's a beautiful evening in the jungle tonight. It's warmer than usual, and some new plants have appeared, black vines that climb up the trees near the Aurora, opening hundreds of tiny white flowers that glow in the darkness. They let of a sweet smell that's soothing like a chamomile tea, and are filled with a dew that, if consumed, leaves characters feeling relaxed and just a little more likely to act on positive impulses.

However, the vines of this plant aren't so harmless. When broken they drip a milky white substance which irritates the skin, leaving red welts that burn and last anywhere from an hour to a full day, depending on how long the substance is in contact. Eating this won't kill you but it'll give you really intense heartburn and nausea for a few hours.

Additionally, if you're walking around in the nearby jungle, you might trip over one of the small cracks that have appeared in the forest floor. Mostly they're not visible underneath the grass and underbrush, but the bigger ones have caused a slight unevenness in the ground that can catch careless toes. There doesn't seem to be any particular pattern or origin to the cracks, nor do they have any other affect on their surroundings. They're just there, suddenly, in a roughly 100-foot radius from the train.

But there's plenty of reason to ignore these natural phenomenon, because there are some new teammates waking up in your carriages! In response to this new wave of arrivals, existing players will hear a cute jingling ringtone come from their Chain. Upon checking, the screen displays... a silly animation of balloons and confetti and the words "WELCOME NEW HEROES", which goes away on its own after a few seconds or when characters tap it. The same display is shown on the big screen in the lounge, in which trays full of colourful drinks have mysteriously appeared. The drinks taste like Kool-Aid and change some part of you the corresponding colour -- pink hair, blue skin, purple eyes, or maybe just a literal green thumb!]

[[OOC NOTE: Newbies can review the arrival scenario on the navigation page if necessary. The drinks in the lounge come in any colour you want, and cause colour shift in whatever and however large an area you want. It could just be a strand of hair or it could be your entire body, whatever you feel like playing with.]]

Comments

Thyme

[malignstar]

[ Sup Thyme. Something is crashing about inside your car, knocking various bits of furniture this way and that. ]

Ow, how did I even hit that?

[ If you choose to explore, you might find your new teammate trying to right a fallen chair while wearing a set demon of Thyme-colored pajamas The reason for the chaos should become immediately obvious, given the man's large black wings. ]

Re: Thyme

[friskmanagement]

[You exit your room and head towards the source of the commotion, eventually finding...]

...

[It's a crow. Get a net.]

...Hi.

[You wave to the giant crow.]

Re: Thyme

[malignstar]

[ Starts a bit at the sudden person, probably knocking his wing against another edge ]

—Huh? Ow! Who are you?

Re: Thyme

[friskmanagement]

I'm Smile.

Who're you?

Re: Thyme

[malignstar]

[ Trying to back away from anything hard, as he glances behind him. Are those wings? Is that normal? It doesn't seem like it should be normal... Going to put that on the back burner for a second. ]

I'm...

[ Actually, he has no idea. Shouldn't he know the answer to that? What the hell is going on? ]

... really confused, honestly.

Re: Thyme

[friskmanagement]

...

Do you not remember anything?

Re: Thyme

[malignstar]

Wow, that's a strange question to ask right out of the blue. Must come up a lot...

Re: Thyme

[friskmanagement]

[You can probably take that as a yes.]

Me and Saber and Fang don't remember anything before we woke up. Only Eliza and Nanashi do.

Those, uh. Those are your other teammates.

Re: Thyme

[malignstar]

How come the other two skip the amnesia thing? And what's this about teammates?

[grimpa]

[NEW TEAMMATE!! ...clumsy new teammate]

--Hold still!

[malignstar]

[ The yelling only makes him press back against the table, nearly flipping that with his wings this time. ]

—Whoa, ow. what's going on? Where are all you coming from?

[grimpa]

This is our compartment! Tuck your wings in and sit down!

[malignstar]

Your compartment? What does that even mean?

[ Does not seem to be listening to either instruction, though he is checking out his wings now. Yep, those sure are wings. Going to try to move them experimentally. Slowly. ]

[grimpa]

The place where we live! Be careful. These are your things as well!

[malignstar]

[ Stop shifting wings and concentrates to see if he can gradually tuck them in, still focusing on them instead of Zol ]

Chill out. It's not like I automatically know how to use these...

I'll fix—wait, what do you mean my things as well?

[grimpa]

[well, good, that's progress]

You're a member of Thyme, like the rest of us. You'll live here and work together with us. You should take a look at your device.

[malignstar]

Device?

[ Oh right, the cell phone! He whips it out of his pocket. ]

What am I checking for exactly?

Re: Thyme

[bowtiedbones]

Excuse me, hi, sorry, can you fold those please??

[furniture is EXPENSIVE]

Re: Thyme

[malignstar]

[ Jumps at the new voice—Ohhh, cute lady! ]

Oh hey, sorry about the mess... uh, fold what exactly?

Re: Thyme

[bowtiedbones]

Um, your wings?

Re: Thyme

[malignstar]

Wings?

[ Well, that explains some things... Checking out his back now and shifting wings a little. Yeah, definitely his. ]

That's different...

Re: Thyme

[bowtiedbones]

You'll rememember them eventually. Just be careful with them meanwhile, okay? You have a big wingspan.

Re: Thyme

[malignstar]

[ You know what, he's just going to pretend this is completely~ normal. Yep. ]

Anything for you, beautiful. I'll keep an eye on them.

Thanks for helping me figure out what was causing all the trouble.

Re: Thyme

[bowtiedbones]

[with some firmness:]

My name is Eliza.

Re: Thyme

[malignstar]

Sorry. Eliza.

Too bad I can't return the favor. My whole head feels cloudy.