The Endless River

[voidtreckermods]

On the morning of day twenty one of the month of Kazoo there is a message on the ICP screens around the train. Their SCA's will light up the colour of the Void and show the following information.

World #398050 is a void nexus known locally as Tshering. As a void nexus this world has strong links with the void and the connection through worlds. World #398050 is home to the Endless River. Legends speak of this river being powerful enough to send thoughts from one heart to another across any distance. All that is needed is for you to know who it is you wish to reach.

On-board

The dressing carriage is open, filled with clothing best suited to a pleasant spring day. Light, airy and in a rainbow of joyful colours and florals. One closet is entirely filled with wide-brimmed hats bedecked with ribbons, feathers and ornaments. A stack of picnic baskets and containers filled with an alarming variety of passenger-suitable foodstuffs and flasked drinks sits in one corner, next to rolls of thick, weatherproof blankets in the four team colours.

The large box marked Do Not Use Yet, filled with small, empty jute bags, is hopefully still sat in the Luggage carriage, ready for passengers to grab handfuls of its contents as directed by the announcement.

Upon landing (after an appropriate countdown), the train remains on the surface, its carriages partially curved to form a gathering site for the day. Welcome to Tshering, the eighth void nexus!



A Day for Picnics

Tshering, system #398050, is a strange place, only habitable by grace of the passengers' SCAs. The sky is shot through with colours, a cascade of sunsets, and through it, the void shimmering through it in seams like a child's painting of the milky way. Still, there's a beauty to the chaotic mash of colours that soaks through its landscape, and in the shelter of the forests of towering funghi that dot its surface, the Void can go unseen by its visitors.

The temperature seems mild, suitable for the provided clothing, and if there are weather patterns around the world they've taken the day off. The funghi are sturdy enough that what air flow there is doesn't disturb their stalks, and carved grooves and holds in some of the larger examples indicate that climbing them to sit atop their glowing crowns is eminently possible, and, in fact, encouraged.

the Endless River

The Endless River is a font of pure chaos, flowing from a multitude of small rivulets across the area to a central reservoir, from which it pours directly upwards, away from Tshering's surface and out of sight, beyond the world's atmosphere.

Anything bagged and placed within the Endless River will also flow upwards and soon be out of sight, passing, presumably, into the Void. Scattered across the surface of Tshering are small, glittering pebbles, as described in the announcement.

The stones are pleasantly cool to the touch, and all passengers need to do is feel. Messages can be in any form that the Voidtreckers wish. Perhaps words, perhaps feelings, perhaps an image from their mind into the stone. Perhaps a mixture. Once they begin their message the stone will glow slightly and continue to glow as they secure it in the bag and cast it into the river. They will feel, almost instinctively, that they need to focus as they do so, thinking of the person they wish to reach all the while.

There are plenty of bags and many more stones; passengers will not be limited in their sendings.

Comments

2

[bakegarasu]

Otoha lets himself get dragged over to the picnic, sighing in fake annoyance until he's sat down and scoots slightly closer to Ryo.

"Can't believe you went all out on this stuff..." He can, but he's just being a little bit of an ass.

[fivemilesdeep]

"Oh, no, I want to feed people I care about! What an strange idea!" It's more sass than Otoha has probably ever heard out of Ryo, a sign that he's become much more comfortable around the train. He can only hold his expression for a few moments before it breaks into a wide smile and he nudges Otoha playfully with his shoulder.

"Are you hungry?"

[bakegarasu]

He snorts and nudges Ryo a little bit. "Not really, but I should still eat." He often isn't hungry, but that doesn't mean he has an excuse to skip meals. "How are you doing?"

Better than... some people, he hopes.

[fivemilesdeep]

"Do I need to start asking have you eaten instead of are you hungry?" There's still a bit of sass in there, but it is a serious question. If Otoha doesn't get hungry, then Ryo needs another angle.

"I'm alright. It's nice to have some time to relax." He'd collapsed after the mission, in a fit of emotion and exhaustion, so it's good to have some time to recover from all of that.

[bakegarasu]

"Maybe." He's not sure. Having someone look after him is still new. Time to relax, though... "Guess the benefit of being in a coma half the mission is that you're pretty well-rested." Some mental exhaustion, but nothing too bad.

He glances over towards the river and then back to Ryo. He... doesn't know what to do with that, but he needs to focus on Ryo, not on feeling vaguely weird. "It's... yeah. A nice change of pace." There's a few things on his mind, but he's trying to keep the heavier things at bay right now. "If you want after we eat we can climb up to the top of one of these things and look at the view." It's nice down here, but there's some coverage from the fungi. A higher view might be nice.

[fivemilesdeep]

He'll take that as a yes, at least for something so minor in the scheme of things. "If that's the case, I think you're the only one who was well-rested after that mission." Physically, at least - they're not going to talk about Soldat right now.

"I'd like that." The view looks fantastic from the ground; he can only imagine what it would be like from further up, with an unobstructed view. "But first, help yourself." He gestures towards the spread. He honestly has no idea what kind of food Otoha prefers, or if he even has one - maybe he'll find out.

[bakegarasu]

"Probably. I'll take it, though - the mission before wasn't exactly restful to me." And when he's 'sleeping' while being in the armor, he's also not dreaming. Nice bonus.

He looks down at the spread and... hm. He goes for the salad first, eying the rest of the spread. Is there something with meat there? Hopefully. "You eat, too." No helping others and not yourself, Ryo.

[fivemilesdeep]

"I don't think the missions are ever going to be restful." They aren't by definition, really.

There's definitely meat to be found in the spread, both in sandwiches and in finger food. "Don't worry, I have been."

[bakegarasu]

"I don't think so, but I'd rather be in the armor than having to deal with injuries." And he's pretty sure Ryo would rather he not get hurt, too.

Oh hey. He picks up one of the sandwiches. "Good. ... I gotta look after you, too."