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

[foxyou]

[Jiu instinctively goes on guard when he senses someone else occupying his picnic spot, tail bristling as he carefully moves close enough to make out the intruder, and...relaxes again upon seeing who it is.]

...And you smell like sweat.

[Whether he means she's really sweaty or that her body has produced whatever the minimum amount is for normal human sweat or maybe he's just making it up entirely? Obviously he's never gonna say. Either way, he plops himself down opposite A-Qing and reaches for a sandwich for himself.] I don't suppose you brought your own lunch. [If she's eating his instead.]

[spikelet]

[ She sniffs in entirely faked offence. ]

Don't smell me, then. [ The sandwich disappears completely, and with a deep, reluctant sigh, she adds a small bag of pick-and-mix sweets to the blanket. ] Poor me, all the boxes were taken. I thought I'd have nothing to eat, but luckily, you and I are good friends...

[foxyou]

Don't smell me.

[Omnomnom.....he narrows his eyes at the sweets, turns his gaze away when she says they're friends, and takes a moment to swallow before speaking up again.]

...Yes, that's certainly lucky for you. [He lets out a dramatic sigh of his own.] If it was anyone else, I would have had to punish them for theft—but I suppose I can allow you. We are friends, after all.

[spikelet]

[ The idea of him punishing someone for theft has her grinning behind her next mouthful. Though, she supposes, at some point in his life he stopped being a kid and started being a powerful martial artist and, somehow, a fox spirit.

She's not taking notes, or anything. ]

Thanks again for your generosity. [ Nom. ] Did you have fun?

[foxyou]

[Jiu does not answer her question for a good minute or so, acting like he hadn't heard as he focuses on eating his sandwich.

After a few bites though, he finally says:] I appreciate being able to stretch my legs after all that time on the train, if that counts as fun.

[He totally had fun.]

[spikelet]

[ she's patient, but only just, shooting him frequent glances even as she opens and works her way through a bag of salted crisps. He's got until the end of his sandwich before she repeats the question-- which means, of course, that he answers in time.

This time. She settles again, nodding as though his answer was expected. Obviously running around is fun! It was her favourite game back home, after all. There's a lot of appeal. The digging less so, but maybe that's a fox thing. ]

That's good. It looked like a lot of fun, I'm jealous. [ ah-- ] Just a little, though!

[ if she could turn into a fox they'd never catch her standing still. An unopened bag of crisps is pushed his way on the blanket. ]

[foxyou]

There's nothing stopping you from running around yourself, you know.

[Clearly now that he's admitted it he's free to talk about it like there was never any hesitation to begin with.

Reaching for his own bag of crisps...] Or do you think someone might disapprove?

[spikelet]

This simple maiden can't change her shape, it's not the same. [ But she's not looking to complain, so she takes a swig of her finally-opened apple juice and then sticks her tongue out. ] After this I'll definitely run about. Who cares if someone disapproves?

[foxyou]

If I had a choice, I'd have picked a vastly different shape. [Something more dangerous! Like a tiger! Or at least like, a bigger sleeker fox...maybe one with nine tails, for extra intimidation factor.

He chomps down on a crisp.] Who would disapprove of a young girl enjoying herself in a place like this? Clearly they don't know what it is to live.