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

Ruins

[iamnotgod]

[Aziraphale's curiosity is matched by Webmind's; for the moment, at least, they are exploring the same section of ruins.

Apropos seemingly of nothing, Webmind says:]

For being a historical site, very little of the history here is apparent, wouldn't you say?

[That is his conclusion thus far, at any rate - though he does appreciate the atmosphere, all the same.]

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Aziraphale has mostly been curiously wandering for the past few minutes, and he looks up when he's addressed, pulled from whatever train of thought he's been well settled in for the last while.]

Oh, yes. It would have been helpful if there was any literature or any references about who exactly lived here.

[iamnotgod]

[Webmind nods.]

It does not appear to be that kind of retreat, unfortunately.

If we are to learn about who lived on this island, we shall most likely have to research it when we are back in the void.

[Rather counterproductive, Webmind thinks.]

[salutosinedelectat]

Might be a tad hard to do so when we don't know the name of the peoples that might have lived in this world to begin with.

[ He steps over to what seems to be the remnants of what must've been a house, or some sort of small shelter. ]

But, then, we have no way of knowing what other land might be out there in this planet.

[iamnotgod]

The train did call this place Jema'grethy Island; that is at least a start.

[Webmind is also saving that world number for later...]

As for further scouting - perhaps those who have proven capable of flight or similar talents might be willing to lend aid?

[Webmind could not color himself surprised if someone were indeed capable of flying around an entire planet fast enough; in his previous state, the journeys of most thoughts and messages took place in milliseconds or sooner - but then, he had wires and cables electrons to aid him.]

[salutosinedelectat]

Oh.

[ Aziraphale blinks, as what seems to be a sudden realization hits him.

(That realization being that, should be want to, he would fly. Or materialize himself somewhere else. But he so does not wish to try to take voyage over a sea he doesn't know. That doesn't seem very smart.)]

Well, I do suppose that's an option, that would still be sending them into the unknown.

[iamnotgod]

It does depend on the constitution of whomever we would ask, I do admit.

It is not as if this world has satellites to access... to provide a view from higher up, in a literal sense.

[salutosinedelectat]

Satellites?

[ He does sound curious, confused about how that would help. ]

[iamnotgod]

Think of them as airborne cameras, though high enough that the gravity of a planet enforces an orbit rather than an unfortunate crash.

[Webmind's standards for 'how to break down definitions' can change on practically a moment-to-moment basis, depending on who he's talking to.

If the definition suffices for Aziraphale, though, that's all that matters.]

[salutosinedelectat]

[ That works well enough. While Aziraphale has been on Earth for all of its existence, he's somewhat lost track of technological advancements in the last century or so. ]

Ah, I see. That would indeed be quite helpful.

Though, I do wonder who manages this...resort? Perhaps they could give us more information about their planet.

[iamnotgod]

Given the history of this particular train-

[And the fact it's now a wanted train-]

I suspect this visit was timed specifically to avoid such attention, even if they had the inclination to assist us.

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Aziraphale looks rather curious, having not considered that before. ]

You believe we're meant to be in hiding, right this moment?

[iamnotgod]

[Webmind nods.]

In the time I've been on this train, we've certainly never encountered any places where the void ministry was stationed. And while I do not know if the ministry maintains this place directly...

[Hopefully that explanation speaks for itself.]

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Aziraphale nods slowly, intrigued. ]

But what of the other places where it's stopped? Surely, they haven't just started trying to recover it. Weren't there talks of previous inspections?

[iamnotgod]

As I recall, that report mentioned for other voidcraft not to engage us.

And, seeing as in most cases we do not land on void-active worlds, it makes sense that the train is going out of its way to make tracking it difficult.

[That the report had also mentioned 'scrambled signals' has not escaped him either.]

... I do wonder if this world was itself ever void-active; perhaps it was discovered after the civilization here had died out.

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Aziraphale thinks about it, looking around at the ruins for good measure. ]

Then...who created this resort?

[iamnotgod]

That is one of the things that we will have to research.

[Apart from the existence of 'how to' informational pamphlets for the boats and so on, there was no literature on this world, let alone any identifying information.]

The idea holds the spark of challenge to it, all told; can we uncover the history of this place, with minimal guidance?

[salutosinedelectat]

I do suppose we can try.

[ Apparently they have a magic catalogue, or interdimensional delivery, so there's at least some chance of finding something relevant.]

I do say, pardon me for circling back, but what does "void-active" mean, exactly?

[iamnotgod]

[Webmind does not seem troubled in the least by the backtracking.]

My best assumption given what I've learned so far is: a world or system that both knows of the void and has the means to travel it to visit other worlds regularly.