middleofsomewhere | Event: Healing Waters

"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!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Looking up, Colden started to cringe, then did a casual double-take. All things considered, robots were only kind of some of the weirdest things he'd seen. But sure, he could handle this, he could roll with it.

"Nah, I'm okay. The only thing bruised is my pride," he said, straightening up. "I'm usually not so clumsy." But he blamed it on being in a new, unfamiliar place and having a lot on his mind because of it.

"I understand the sentiment," Webmind returned, letting the man right himself with grace.

"What is your name, then? I am Webmind."

Perhaps now would be a good time for the both of them to head back to the trail...

"That's a weird name." He didn't mean it as an insult, more like an observation. "I'm Colden. This place is something else, isn't it?"

Not just the volcano, but everything about this place. It was beautiful.

"I did name myself," Webmind replied, in a tone that did not imply he'd taken it as insult. "I went with what seemed most descriptive without implying malevolence."

"I would say you are right on multiple levels, Colden. One would have to seriously manipulate color frames to recreate these effects on Earth."

"Oh. That's pretty cool, then." And hey, sometimes implying malevolence was fun.

"Yeah. I've never been this close to a volcano before, either. I'm curious what it looks like from the top, but uh, you know, volcano." He was having trouble trusting it even if it seemed harmless. Harmless and volcano never went in the same sentence.

Well, Caitlin did call him her Big Brother on purpose...

"This place does not appear geologically active, despite appearances," Webmind was quick to assure.

"They would not have been able to continuously preserve this site if it was, I should think."

"Good to know, and also a good point. Just...volcanoes and shit makes me a little nervous. Like the idea that Yellowstone could kill us all one day." He lived his life much happier without the idea that the earth itself was going to kill them at some point. Worrying about people trying to kill him was enough.

Webmind's response to that was a nod; he could rattle off statistics, but he knew that fears could only be assuaged so far...

"We're not required to climb it, as far as I'm aware."

~~Webmind does not know of what he speaks; he's not sharing any memories today.~~

"That's good, 'cause I'd have to be dragged up it." And that wouldn't be pretty for anyone. He'd rather keep his distance, thanks. Not that being at the bottom of the volcano would be any better than the top if something did happen, but still. "I don't think anyone would want that."

"Fortunately, you do have one factor in your favor," Webmind offered.

"Worst comes to worst, tap your SCA screen three times; you can use it to evacuate back to the Luggage Carriage."

Not a perfect solution if you were aiming to avoid the train, but...

"Oh, really." He looked down at his SCA, half tempted to try it out, but that didn't feel like such a good idea if there wasn't an emergency. Though, knowing something was a bad idea hadn't always stopped him before.

"That's convenient. At least they want to keep us alive, even if we have been kidnapped." Whoever 'they' were, at least.

"I have not had to use it myself, though I suspect that is more due to circumstance than anything else."

And perhaps, though he was loathe to put it that way, luck; he'd chosen to remain on the train for that aborted mission, after all...

"Hopefully no one'll have to use it, but it's good to know the option exists." Just in case. He was a fan of back up plans. "It's never a good idea to get backed into a corner." So to speak.

"No, no it is not."

Webmind has been - close to - stuck in that sort of situation before.

Fortunately he'd had an ace (or rather a Wong) in the hole.

"Have you found anything else of interest in your travels so far? If something comes to mind not from this island, I would be delighted to hear about it."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, this whole place is interesting, it's kind of hard to pick out anything in particular. These ruins are cool. I've never really seen anything like them before."

He didn't do a lot of ruin exploration back home. He was more of a 'stick to civilization' kind of guy, except when he needed to hit the woods, but he sure wasn't focused on exploring anything then.

"I suppose I could say there are some like these on Earth, but none so completely abandoned-yet-preserved."

Continuing on in this vein, the emergent consciousness and the werewolf made their way along the island...

Event: Healing Waters

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Should we wrap? Gotta wrangle in those bonus points!

Sure!

Aaand wrap~