Event: Healing Waters

[voidtreckermods]

"Good morning passengers, it is day twenty three of the month of Grasshopper. All passengers of the Voidtrecker Express require rest. Next stop Jema’grethy Island. All passengers prepare to disembark."

It is a very strange morning message that rings through the train on the morning of day twenty three but as the passengers of the Voidtrecker Express wake their screens glow with the colour of the void and a holographic screen pops up for them to read.

World #2554098133741: A world once inhabited by an ancient civilisation and now preserved as a historical site, nature reserve and well-being retreat. It is famous for its relaxing hot springs, calming atmosphere and beautiful beaches.

It is a popular void-traveller destination, particularly among void missionaries as a place to rest and recuperate after difficult missions.

The Voidtrecker Express will spend three days here, arriving today and leaving on day twenty six of the month of Grasshopper. The dressing carriage is open for your convenience.

It is time for a holiday it seems!

Preparation

For those who go to explore the dressing carriage they will find a variety of beachwear and wetsuits. One cupboard has a pile of tents and groundsheets in all four team colours.

One cabinet is exclusively filled with beach towels, in a kaleidoscope of colours, designs and patterns. Another is filled with different shapes and sizes of plain towel dressing gowns. There is even a cabinet with buckets, spades and small rock-pooling nets.

It seems they are in for quite an adventure.

Arrival

"Shortly arriving on World #2554098133741. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

The train lurches and rattles as it leaves the void they will get a glimpse of silver-purple sky and a beautiful ocean below.

However some passengers might be a little more than distracted, one staring at that table for a second too long, another seeming lost in thought for a couple of seconds, a longer than normal pause in a sentence. They see a vision, a glimpse of a life that is not their own. Not all at once, but here and there as the train descends to the island.

But then it is gone and things are back to normal. Just in time, as they come to land.

Jema’grethy Island

The train has landed on a grassy ridge, overlooking a beautiful beach of white sand and the ocean beyond. It is warm, but not too hot, a cool ocean breeze cutting through the heat making it pleasant. Behind them is a grassy plain, changing to forest in the distance. There is the sound of birdsong in the purple sky. To the west the land is more craggy, the silhouette of a fortress in the distance. In a word, it is idylic. A sense of peace permeates the island.

A little more worrying is the volcano-like structure in the north. But even a quick glance will show it is not a typical volcano. There is no smoke and the liquid slowly running down it in rivulets is pink and blue.

Exploring the passengers will find beautiful beaches, ragged cliffs to walk and caves to explore. Where it is more craggy the beaches are made of pebbles- perfect for rock pooling.

The place has no people, but it is clearly maintained. The eastern beaches have racks of shallow boats, both canoes and one- or two-person sailing dinghies. There is also a small building in which scuba gear is stored, along with several waterproofed manuals and instructional literature.

Ruins of ancient houses are scattered across the island, but the main settlement is built into a rocky section in the north-west that has been secured with ropes and stairways cut into the cliffs, perfect for scrambles and hikes.

There are no living quarters, but there are sheltered sections with basic toilet facilities marked as camping grounds in five different sections of the island - by the hot springs, within the ruined fortress, beside the harbour, on the eastern beaches, and on the northern face of the mountain.

Hot Springs

To the west are the hot springs. They have both outdoor and indoor areas; the indoor areas being wooden loghouse saunas, changing rooms and storage sheds, whilst the outdoor areas are a tiered series of pools spilling down the side of the mountain and shaded by brightly flowering trees. The waters are hot, mineral-rich and soothing.

Perfect for overly stressed, world weary Void heroes...

(OOC: More setting information is here, please feel free to go wild with the setting and have a fun and relaxing time. You can use this post as a catch all for your holiday or make your own posts on middleofsomewhere. More information about how the memory event is structured is here!)

Comments

[10billionpercent]

"I don't know about it being a new mineral, it could be a very common mineral in this world, place, whatever, but it's not one I'm familiar with."

It was alright, Allen, there were few people in existence that got as excited about rocks as Senku did. A lot of people in his experience, just saw them as rocks.

[mynameisallen]

"New to us then, I suppose. Even if it's common here it would still be new to us." This made him wonder about if it was the same in other worlds that might have new minerals. he had a world in mind that he would be dead certain about having something different.

"Maybe if you find a native you could ask them. I'm sure they would know."

[10billionpercent]

"Not a terrible idea, I'd love to get more information if I can get it. Nothing is more exciting than an unsolved mystery. Especially in the realm of geology."

Senku hummed. "There's a lot I'd like to do to this rock, but I don't have that kind of equipment."

[mynameisallen]

"What... did you want to do with that rock?" Because he knew the guy licked it before, so he really had no idea what people who study rocks would do to study them at all.

[10billionpercent]

"I'm trying to identify what properties it has. A lot of rocks have a distinctive taste, it's not as weird as it sounds, but also they usually have minerals and all of the minerals have a different chemical makeup and can do a great many things with them. Also, rocks have a level of hardness which could make them useful for other purposes." Senku explained, hopefully a little bit.

[mynameisallen]

Allen just kept quiet. Did he understand what he was talking about? Probably not at all really. This type o thing was not easy for him to understand.

"And what is that usefulness?" That was pretty much all he could ask with what he had been told. It was something at least.

[10billionpercent]

He brightened a little bit at the question and with a twist, pulled one of the two tools off his new rope-based belt.

"For one thing, I made this knife with a rock I found. It's probably got a hardness level of about 4.5, it's not exceptionally strong, but it was pretty good when it came to chipping so I was able to get a sharp edge to it."

Senku didn't really consider that people who weren't used to it might find making tools from stone age gear to be a little strange.

[mynameisallen]

"That's pretty impressive." Says the guy whose left arm can change into a sword should he want it to.

"But couldn't you use other materials to make a knife?"

[10billionpercent]

"Yeah, sure you could, there's tons of metals out there that are far better suited to tool making after all, iron and steel for example." Senku said, in his usual patient tone.

"But I don't have the resources to make them. I would need a source of iron, and a forge, and probably a lot more time and help to get a single knife done. All of that is doable, of course, but probably not in the time limit we have going on here. Building a forge is a pain, but possible. I saw shells on the beach, if they are made of calcium carbonate, you could make mortar."

[mynameisallen]

"I guess you have a point... with the forge anyway" He figured people were getting materials for things somehow, so he knew there was always a way in that aspect.

"Though...how can you make mortar with potentially shells?"

[10billionpercent]

"Ah, glad you asked! Shells are typically made of calcium carbonate which has at least three different uses." He held up three fingers, he learned his lesson in not including the fourth.

"The first, is that you can mix it with sand and heat it up and make mortar, because that's all mortar is, which is an excellent cement substitute." Senku counted down on his fingers as he explained.

"The second use is agricultural. Using calcium carbonate to neutralize the pH in the soil makes it much more likely that crops would actually grow. If the soil is too acidic, plants don't typically like that and you'll get a horrible yield if you get anything at all. And lastly, it's used to make soap which is vital if you are trying not to get sick."

[mynameisallen]

Allen just sat there quietly. It was hard to honestly tell if any of this was seeping in or not. All he could tell was that at least it had good uses anyway.

"So overall it's pretty useful."

[10billionpercent]

Senku was absolutely used to getting that reaction. "Yeah, you could say that."

He wasn't even offended that Allen didn't follow what he was saying, it happened a lot.

[mynameisallen]

So it was useful, that he could understand. Sure this was probably a subject he will never understand and science will be something more for those who can, but he at least tries.

"So will you bring some things back to the train?"

[10billionpercent]

"That's my plan! I'm hoping to gather as many samples as I can feasibly keep." He grinned at that because he was excited.

[mynameisallen]

"I mean you could also just make multiple trips since we are here for more than one day" Was it a good idea to tell him that? Who knows.

[10billionpercent]

"I could, but where would I put it all?" He responded, at least he had the foresight to know that space was an issue.

[mynameisallen]

"I don't know, but people always bring stuff on from other worlds, so you could always find them and see how they do it."

[10billionpercent]

"I guess, I'll try and sort something out. I bet under my bed would work as a good enough space for now." Senku mused.

"I'm used to working with little room anyway, it's not a problem."

[mynameisallen]

"Then should I leave you to it then?" he asked, not being all that sure about what else there was to say.... well except one thing.

"If you happen upon the strange sap that's like blue and pink, note that it seems to be edible." He figured the guy might be interested but who knows.

[10billionpercent]

He grinned and shrugged. "I'm on it." He said agreeably, it was alright, no one was going to be more exciting sifting through rocks than Senku was, except maybe Chrome who was nowhere to be found.

"Interesting." Senku called back as he waved slightly, walking away, he'd definitely be checking that out.