January Star System

[spaceshipit]

A new year means new friends, new adventures, and new opportunities for the bizarre! This month, the "planet" and way-stations will be available all at once, so don't be shy about posting mingles. C: The Marsiva is taking a big, wide turn around this bit of space, so it will be in range for the entire month. It's almost as thought she really wants the passengers to spend time here.

The Drift Fleet will be in the range of this star system between January 4th - January 31st.


So, about those self-destructing sweaters...

True to Diamond's warning, the sweaters and other winter gear supplied for the December planet does not last past the time spent in its range. Sometime between January 3rd and 4th, at rather sporadic bursts, every bit of temporary winter clothing that is still on the ship will combust. Each article will suddenly burn up like flashpaper, though it won't set anything else on fire, and will only cause mild burns to anyone wearing it. The ashes are a total bitch to clean up.

Animals on board?

If any character decided to try and keep a little domesticated arctic fox from the December planet (or if one followed them home), it can stay on the ship long-term. Atroma fully supports adorable animal mascots and all the positive ratings they rake in. Foxes can subsist on proteins, but you should really think about giving it a varied diet (along with plenty of exercise). Also, don't be surprised if your crewmates find a few shredded belongings, and small messes on their beds now and again.

Also, for future reference: any living creatures that are no longer wanted, or are left behind by disappearing passengers, will automatically beamed to the Marsiva and kept safe in a cozy animal shelter.


The Way-Stations

These way-stations sure look a little more lively than the ones you're used to! They almost resemble the inside of an Earth mall, with tall, white walls, bright neon signs, huge LED screens, and big windows full of merchandise! Absolutely all of which is brought to you by... Floot Loops. Part of this balanced breakfast.

→ The Courtyard
All of these spaces are fairly large, filled with squishy benches and network kiosks. The floors are brightly carpeted, and the "ceilings" show a hologram of a cartoonish sun and clouds floating lazily across the sky. There are also signs, pillars, posters, screens, and speakers all around you that proudly advertise Floot Loops, the phenomenally fruity cereal the whole family will enjoy!

There's still not a whole lot of traffic through here, and the few people who are here seem pretty preoccupied. While these aliens are admittedly a little rough around the edges, they seem more like day-workers and busy shoppers than the kidnapping-and-smuggling types. You may even recognize some people from the December planet. Whatever the case, none of them should really be a bother to you.

→ Shopping and Entertainment
Some shops are still fully automated, but the rest are run by actual flesh-and-blood staff. There are so many different stores lining the courtyard that a character could find almost anything... with the downside being that every single thing for purchase is heavily branded by Floot Loops: proud sponsor of the Drift Fleet's twelfth cycle.

Even the pretty little cafes feature themed meals (the meat is still all ostrich, but now with delicious fruity glazes!) and servers dressed in Floot Loops colors.

It's up to you to decide how your official Floot Loops merchandise looks. Clothes might have big logos on them, food might only come in special, limited-edition Floot Loops flavors, games might have copyrighted Floot Loops mascots printed on them, whatever. Have fun drinking out of that bright, colorful Floot Loops (now with twelve essential vitamins and minerals!) shotglass! At least the "Floot Loops-Flavored" vodka isn't actually that bad...


Huh, that's weird.

→ Free coffee machine!

As per the contract with Floot Loops, they're loopy-licious!, each ship will be receiving a free coffee machine and some starter coffee! Sure, "Floot Loops" is plastered all over it, and the coffee comes in five fruit flavors--lime, citrus (which is different than lime), blueberry, strawberry, and sour apple--but when's the last time you had caffeine, anyway? Don't complain.

They will be delivered as a sponsor drop at the beginning of the event, beamed down in a crate, smack-dab in the middle of the cargo hold. There's a note with it that suggests you always tilt the logo towards the cameras (what cameras?), and that extra ratings will be rewarded for mentioning how good your Floot Loops brand coffee tastes.

→ What's this about a game?

Even before your ships make it there, you'll catch wind of some game called the "Enchanted Forest". The many ads you see on way-stations will occasionally switch over to advertise some sort of a treasure-hunt (sponsored by Floot Loops) on a nearby planet, along with the coordinates. It sounds like fun! Adventure, mystery! Prizes, prizes, prizes! Just get from one end of the forest to the other, and you'll be a big winner!

→ A strange transmission...

Behind the rainbow-hued, fruit flavor of commercialism, something else is going on. Transmissions aren't easy to send or receive in this section of space, and even Atroma's broadcasts are not immune to the effect. There is another signal that tries to crowd in on every frequency, and becomes stronger the closer the Fleet gets to the planet.

Whether on ship or way-station, when accessing a network computer station or your personal communicator, everyone can (and sometimes can't help) tuning into the singing.

Depending on who is listening, who is the one tuning in, a song will play. And the strange thing, is the song is usually in some old or dead language particular to the listener, often of great personal importance to them, and always enough to pull at strings of heart and memory. Even if the targetted character doesn't actually understand what the language translates to, it should be a language that they at least recognize and get an emotional response from. Examples: One character might hear a Latin choir from the churches of home. Another character might hear an old myth sung by their ancestors in a language that's almost lost by now.

If there isn't a song like that of any kind that fits this description for their character, the transmission can simply be some other song from their past that holds significance for them--such as a lullaby once sung by a parent. And if you absolutely can't think of a song or type of music that would fit, the character hears something like this. Some melancholy, haunting melody in a language that absolutely no one (even those who understand all languages) can decipher.

And though the songs always target one particular listener at a time, everyone can hear each other's songs, so characters are welcome to share the transmission with others or even put them on-blast over the whole network.

The bottom line is that characters will hear a song that evokes an emotional response, whether it be wistfulness, sorrow, nostalgia, bittersweet happiness, or even fear. And communications officers can do a quick triangulation to figure out that the signal is coming from the coordinates of that Enchanted Forest planet...


The January Planet

It looks kind of weird, even from out in distant orbit. It's very small, covered in green, and looks kind of like someone or something tried to cut it in half? A big chunk of it is missing, leaving a flat plane for you to land on--and this flat plane is also impossibly blanketed in green. Its rotation and stable orbit make no kind of scientific sense, but there it is. Something has altered the hell out of it, starting with the way that its atmosphere is absolutely covered in even more advertisement satellites-- "GO HERE!" "THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME!" "ONLY IN ORBIT FOR FOUR SHORT WEEKS!" "FREE SPA TREATMENT!" "FUN FOR THE WHOLE--" Wait, did they say free spa treatment!?

→ The Field

Being that the planet appears, for all intents and purposes, to be covered in a blanket of deep forest, the only place to land is a single grassy field, surrounded by ominous-looking trees on all sides. Despite the bright, loud advertising up above and the musical signal that it is apparently streaming, the surface of this world is incredibly quiet, with not a single billboard or kiosk in sight. It's a bit chilly, like a fall afternoon under a perpetually overcast sky, (you might want to buy a Floot Loops brand jacket beforehand to replace your incinerated sweatshirt,) and there are often soft clouds of snow falling, though everything is too wet and cool for it to stick for very long. There are some birds singing, but they all seem far away. No other animals are around.

On one end of this clearing, there's a large bathhouse amid a cluster of hot springs. It looks kind of old and unkempt, but steam still rises lazily up from chimneys and pipes. And on the other end of the field, it looks like a path starts into the forest.

→ The Bathhouse

It looks as though this area was chosen for the clearing because of the cluster of natural hot springs here. There is a bathhouse built here, large enough to cater to a busy crowd, but now stands empty. It's obvious that no one has been here to care for it in a long time, but it's so automated that it is still very much functional. The outside springs are open for use, as are the baths and spa pools indoors. Fresh water will automatically be pumped into the baths, and there are enough machines dispensing soaps, salts, and salves to make your time genuinely relaxing. Fresh towels and hair products will dispense at your convenience, and there are even robotic massage chambers. Let the steam ease away all of your troubles, passengers.

For the modest, there is even a machine that vends various sizes of swimming trunks (with additional bandeau tops for the ladies)... though this rickety machine has been known to malfunction, occasionally refusing to work.

Besides, the longer that you stay here and soak, the more you'll strangely feel like venturing into the forest...

→ The Enchanted Forest

There's a rusty, half-buried robot near the start of the path. It's weathered and stained, but still smiling! And it's only there for one purpose, and that is to chirp these lines to everyone that walks past it:

Stay true to your quest,
at any cost,
stray from the path,
and you will be lost.

Your character's goal is to get from one end of the forest to the other! There is a twisting path that will lead them all the way there. If they run the whole way and don't stop for lunch, it will take a several hours... But for most people, it will take the better part of a day. There don't seem to be any other rules posted, so characters may choose to go in as groups or individuals, and use whatever methods they want to get through! (Though, whether they fly, dash, teleport, or dig, they will still run into as many problems and distractions as anyone else might.)

The forest itself changes from place to place. Sometimes it looks spooky and terrifying, sometimes it looks charming and peaceful, but it always seems to have this feeling of otherworldly enchantment about it. Those with any sort of magic sense will know, without a doubt, that this whole planet is chock-full of a neutral, thriving magical energy. The whole place feels a lot like a fairy glen... or an MP restoring fountain.

And the forest will not let you through without a challenge. At least once during their journey, the forest will conjure up something particular to the character to try and lure them off the path. They may see something as silly as a big plate of delicious food, or something as serious as a long-gone loved one... It is up to the player to decide what to throw at their character, and whether or not that character is tempted off the path by it. It's also up to you to decide if other characters can even see those enchantments, or if it looks like your character suddenly chases or talks to something that isn't there.

Whether your character gets distracted by a butterfly, or runs off to try and help their already-enchanted friends, they lose the game if they leave the path. They will be enchanted by the forest and forget all about what they were supposed to be doing for at least an hour. At the end of this time, they'll find themselves stumbling through the trees and into the starting clearing once more, whereupon they can decide to try again... or give up for now.

If a character or group of characters make it to the end... Congratulations! They'll find themselves in a clearing undetectable and unreachable by anyone outside of it, where three large trees twist together into one monstrous sentinel keeping silent watch over the glade. Upon viewing its red and gold leaves and black branches, characters will feel something slide into their pockets or appear in their hands. It's a gift from some point in their past--one small sentimental item that means something to them. As long as it is not very big and not terribly lethal, they can have it. Examples include photographs, jewelry, books, small knives, stuffed animals, the bobble-head you once kept on your dashboard, a "the Best of Queen" cassette, etc.

Characters can return to the starting point by touching the large tree at the center of the clearing... or by wandering off into the trees and getting lost again. Winners may return to the path as many times as they wish, and the forest will give up trying to tempt them, but they will not gain any additional prizes from reaching the end again.

Good luck, passengers! Enjoy the challenge and your fantastic prizes... Sponsored by Floot Loops! Atroma recommended, doctor-approved!

Got questions? Want something clarified? Ask them in the comments below!

You may also use this post for plotting and discussion! Have an idea? Looking for a travelling group? Let us know!

Comments

[misconceived]

CHRIS HALLIWELL is totally gonna do this thing. Mostly because he'll try out the spa and then think what's the worst that could happen? Everything, Chris. Everything. If nothing else, he can assure people without a shadow of a doubt that the maze isn't malevolent since he can feel the magic!

[wilder]

ZELOS/KANEIS will have to be talked into going to through the Enchanted forest because he went to school near an enchanted maze forest and guess what it was full of? ZOMBIES AND SKELETONS AND SUPER HARD SIDE BOSSES. THATS RIGHT. Though he shouldn't be too hard to convince, and honestly he'd probably be helpful to have along since he is familiar with magic and not trusting enough to venture off paths at things that make no sense!

If not, he'll be at the spa.

ALLEN WALKER will definitely be willing to go into the forest and figure out what about it is making him hear a song that'll probably put him in a bad mood all month! Though if it takes too long, he might start whining about how hungry he is, and wander off the path to eat some food.

[idealistic]

HEY KANEIS

HOW ABOUT

A CREW BONDING EXERCISE???

[not_mafia]

tsuna will give u ur scarf back uwu

and say hi to allen

[idealistic]

LLOYD IRVING is basically going to be the opposite of Kaneis, in which he's going to go into the forest gung-ho without any convincing whatsoever. If he goes alone, though, he might end up veering off the path because he saw someone from home (Colette, Genis, Kratos, who knows) and will probably go through the forest again... and again... and again... and again... until he finds them (spoilers: he'll never find them) SO HE'S PROBABLY GOING TO NEED A PARTNER WITH HIM.

If you want him to go anywhere else, though (like the spa), then good luck: he might be thrilled at the idea at first, but then he'll get bored of it quick and be all DO I HAVE TOOOOOOOOOOOO.......

[catamite]

NEL CAN GO WITH.


...But, spoiler alert, he's going to be doing the same thing. So. Yeah.

[showmeyourwreath]

LLOYD NO

[showmeyourwreath]

FLORA is totally going to do the thing, are you nuts. She's going to have nice conversations with trees and flowers before/during/after and is probably get extremely homesick. But, she'd be incredibly reliable as a guide, because of her connection to nature, and is packing some serious magic, but she'd advise against hurting the forest because it's bloody rude is why. And these things tend to go south when attacked, so don't do that. But seriously, rude.

OH ALSO HECK YES, SPA TIME

[mirroromirror]

SPA TIME

i am totally canon blind but miyuki has so far seen very little of other girls (HER SHIP IS TESTOSTERONE CRAZY, and she hasn't met ino) so she will really enjoy speaking to another girl!

[birdsbirdsbirds]

ROBIN is probably going to be spending a lot of time in the spa, I'm not going to lie. Once he catches wind of the nature of that forest he'll intentionally try to go in alone, but... Would anyone be interested in catching him talk to a dead person? Either a blonde girl with two heads or a boy with dark hair that he's very angry at... I'll make some kind of a post or a topcomment for it if there are takers.

OTHERWISE I'm just really hyped I'll get a chance to throw some of his Old Gods' Tongue out there because it is so much fun to translate and he loves his own language so much... gosh...

KRISTA is super-wary of creepy evil forests and would like a buddy or group to go in with her! Either her crew, or... other friends? She'll be really good at keeping people on task... But might cry a little when she gets her thing from home. :'< ALSO staying in the spa because omg when's the last time she got warm water for more than ten minutes? ALSO FLOOT LOOP COLORED JACKET FOR HER, BECAUSE SHE'S COLD.

ZHAS is so happy to have coffee again. He does not spa, though. He is too manly for spas. I would really love soooomeone to be with him in the forest because his distractions are really overdramatic and he's got like two points of willpower. If he does not have a buddy to physically hold him down he is going to just bolt off into that forest and never be seen again. :|

[misconceived]

Once Chris goes through the round with Varric, he'd probably go through again to see if he can spot anything more about the forest! So, uh, he'd probably pick a partner and go. again. as a second time for any of your firsts.

[alwayscomeback]

CROWLEY hates nature and everything associated with it, so he'll be avoiding the forest like the PLAGUE unless someone drags him in. He'll be spending time in the spa, until he realises it's making him want to do A Stupid Thing (he's spent too many years in a magical castle that does exactly that, he's grown cautious) and will go hide in the ship.

But hey, if someone wants to drag him there, go ahead and do that.

SOKKA will head into the forest because his shipmates are and he wants to keep them from Not Dying. In true Sokka style, he will bitch and moan the whole way and probably run into a Secret Tunnel because the universe hates him.

[heresyandlace]

Heeeey, bed-buddy. Let's go play with the big scary forest~

EDIT: Also! I really want to play with Sokka too, but don't know with who...

[faithfulwisdom]

Finrod will take absolutely no convincing to go into the forest because... forest and

hey- guess who is very familiar with illusions and what not? He is so genre saavy for this one, guys. If you need someone to pull your character back onto the path, he's your man!

[catamite]

Dude. Teach Nel how to be a real elf... he needs it so bad...

QUESTION

[aberrant_type]

Will the forest attempt to drive people off the path, with techniques like conjuring threatening illusions to scare people off? Or will it confine itself solely to tempting?

ANSWER

[spaceshipit]

The forest could absolutely conjure a threatening illusion. As long as the forest gets the person to leave the path of their own free will, it wins.

ZOE HANGE

[aberrant_type]

Hange is actually going to take some time and enjoy that spa. For sure. Gonna relax while she can.

As for the forest itself, she'll be interested in inspecting it and is likely to wander off the path at least a few times before she sticks to it all the way through. The first time I think she'll be caught off guard enough to just go with things, but later efforts will probably be her seeing what the forest can do.

She will get through it eventually, just at her own pace, once she figures out what the deal is.

I'm not sure what she'll get from home yet, though.

[theboogieman]

is she gonna see a titan

because I want zhas to be there if she sees a titan I'm just saying

[twifork]

Ludger obviously likes a spa. However, he is a Tales protagonist. He will end up in that forest. He will probably get distracted several times before he manages to make it through. He needs company. I'd love to do several runs with different people, including failed runs.



Also he'll spend all the time at the shopping centres looking for tomatoes.

[theboogieman]

lmao ludger is totally going to get that text going "DUDE I FOUND TOMATOES"

I'd love to volunteer someone to run through with him... Zhas is so weird and antisocial I don't know if he'd do it, but I've got an ancient demigod who can be caught talking to dead people somewhere in the forest? maybe they could buddy up...

[blindoptimism]

Nunnally is so excited about that spa! :3 getting her giant mound of hair washed and being pampered like she's secretly used to with robots to help her in and out of her chair? Yes please. So she'll be spending a nice day there if anyone wants a girls day out *^*

And! She'll be trying her darndest to figure out where that song is coming from, and the information that she finds combined with the time she spent at the spa = she's coming along for forest adventures!!! She's got the willpower to make it through, but she'll be extremely tense through the entire thing, and will likely be on edge after going through it (hearing the voice of your brother who put you in jail but you love so much will do that to you). If anyone is interested in trying to get her to talk about her past or feelings, this will be an excellent time.

[aberrant_type]

WEIRD GIRLS DAY

[tfwnogf]

Question for the mods!

Since Oku has taken it upon him to start a garden on the ship, would it be possible for him to take anything from the forest with him? Or would it be possible for him to get dirt, plant food, strawberry plants from the Way-Station?


Okuyasu will definitely be taking part in everything. Bath House, Enchanted Forest, etc. Someone might need to keep him on path though, he's not that bright. He's definitely calling dibs on that strawberry coffee because it's the closest he's getting to his strawberry ice cream.

[spaceshipit]

Answer! Oku can absolutely take things from the forest with him, as long as it is at the very edge... or on the forest path. Otherwise he'll be off the path and enchanted! And probably drop anything that he has. :( Bummer.

He can also get dirt, plant food, strawberry plants from the way-stations. Strawberry is one of Floot Loops' finest flavors! The dirt might be kind of a weird, unnaturally bright color, though, and the strawberries are going to taste kind of...artificially sweetened... Hrm.

[limitstorm]

RIKU is way too curious by both the broadcast and the (admittedly ominous!) robot sign. He's so going inside. He's not intent on dragging people with him, but since there are stragglers who are like "HEY LET'S GO INSIDE ALONE" he's not going to stand for it. BUDDY SYSTEM, people. This is a strange place, are you guys nuts, ffs. You're all gonna get killed. So he'll most likely be shepherding (or trying to) a group, which may or may not have Sora and Axel in. (Provided muns are okay with that.)

MIYUKI is roughing it alone because MYSTICAL FORESTS CAN'T BE SO BAD... it's like a fairytale adventure! She's going to see someone dear to her from her past though, and that will make her loop and loop and loop and loop so can we have a buddy for her please?

[catamite]

If you want any of my three for either of yours, I would be down for that! They'll all be alternately going in alone or getting lost or creeping around or whatever, so. Any combination might work, if you're interested??

[catamite]

Nel is an elf, and elves totally have some affinity to nature and magical stuff regardless of how urbanized they are, so he'll be drawn to the forest like any elf... but he's also KIND OF TERRIFIED of big scary forests.
The spa will totally tempt him though, so he'll end up there a lot. And subsequently tempted into the forest itself... WHERE HE WILL PROCEED TO FAIL THE TEST OVER AND OVER. Because he has no willpower.
So anyone want to play spa day with little elfboy? Or... help him have any chance in hell of actually making it through the forest? :'D

Coil will have very little interest in the forest or the spa... probably until his dumbass partner goes running off into the forest after hallucinations. Which means he will also get very lost. He could use help staying focused. He also might be interested in venturing in there in the name of science!


Tek will have a HEALTHY wariness of this place, all paranoid and shit. But also terribly curious and hella drawn to all the magic. He might take frequent strolls through the forest just because.
Also hot springs are totally a great place for a shallow-water-loving dragon. He will be spending tons of time there.

[parricida]

Oh my god Tek and Garak need to lizard out in the spa together.

[rebella]

Ella of Frell will be doing the forest run at least once with Chris and Krista, and hang at the hot springs with Krista, which is a great time to run into others there, too!

She's also going to be meeting coffee for the first time so that should be EXCITING and by exciting I mean she's not going to know what just happened in her mouth. If anyone wants to play around with accidentally ordering Ella into stupid tasks or just general stupidity all around, I'd be game for that! Thinking on the humorous side of things, and she'd try to hem around anything she'd be told to do, which is half the fun.

Also Henry you didn't bring anyone back on ship did you...

[amarant]

....see i wasn't planning that but now that it's on the post i think it should happen.

DISNEY PRINCESS HENRY, ANIMALS LOVE HIM...

[amarant]

henry will be totally eager to help out anyone who doesn't wanna go into the creepy forest alone. though he might get distracted a few times. oops. :x

emblica will not make it a goal to go into the creepy forest, but if it happens, it happens. i'll work something out in that case lmao;;;

[rebella]

ella was image dropping emblica to okuyasu in his intro post with josuke, if you'd be up for having her point the two of them out to each other as... gardening... people hahaha that could also happen at some point

[parricida]

ELIM GARAK will be hella wary of this forest, good lord, do you people have no survival instincts-- but he'll go in, one way or another, because he'll either be too curious to resist, or think it might have something of worth. Whatever! What he'll see in the forest is either Mila, his mother, or Julian Bashir, his bff. Or maybe just a lot of warm sweaters, who knows!

He'll also be buying as many Floot Loops jackets as he can carry. He's so cold. Other than that, he'll be basking in the spa, making it as hot as possible.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

HAY GARAK... who am I kidding Robin is going to hit on him at the spa.

But I was going to suggest they could also go on a forest adventure together if he has no one else to go with. :} Robin would offer~

ANOTHER QUESTION

[aberrant_type]

So I'm assuming there's a male/female divide in the springs like they have separate baths and all OR NO????

[spaceshipit]

There are male-only, female-only, as well as communal/unlabeled ones too.

A bunch of them are just like... open-air natural hot springs with no regulation of any kind. Only some of the outdoor ones have screens/dividers around them.

[got_it_memorized]

AXEL is totally digging the free coffee, he's gonna camp the machine on Tourist. he'll wind up letting Riku drag him into the forest but he'll be complaining the whole way. if anybody wants to run into him at the bathhouse he'll be very UNSURE about the entire situation, he's not into being naked with strangers.

[wilder]

But being naked with strangers is one of the most fun kinds of naked gosh Axel.

[not_mafia]

Tsuna is going to the spa BECAUSE SPA. And you know, enjoying the actual food.

He will be super unsure about the forest but can probably be persuaded or just dragged in. He's a tiny thing, so it's not hard for... anyone really.

Edit: OH RIGHT i want to ask something!!

is it okay if the small item could be tsuna's ring? It houses Natsu which is like... kind of like a pokemon who can also transform into a weapon? He can't actually turn into anything without the gloves, though, so the most dangerous thing about him would be his Ruggito di Cieli, which is basically a roar that literally petrifies opponents.

[spaceshipit]

Since that "Natsu" link didn't actually link anywhere (oops!) I'm a little unsure as to just how pokemon this pokemon critter is like!

Basically, no one has gotten their companion creatures/constructs back yet, so if it's something that would be played out, bouncing around the ship or interacting with people or something, the answer is probably a no.

However, if it's something that is really only summoned in battle or whatever, then that might be fine, as long as the power is dampened to not work when used against other passengers or something.

Does that make sense? I am writing this without the aid of coffee first. :'D