middleofsomewhere | Rest and Relaxation: Aquafir Resort

Rest and Relaxation: Aquafir Resort

Attention Voidtreckers. You are all in need of rest and relaxation. Shortly arriving in World#5562102024. Please see your Safety Control Aparatus for further information. Don't forget your suncoins and all Voidtreckers must wear their SCA.

As the train rattles out of the void they will see a large dome almost floating in space with brightly coloured signs directing traffic to the correct entrances. It lowers into what can be only described as a voidcraft carpark, where crafts of different shapes and sizes have settled before them. Their SCAs will beep as the doors open, and there will be a map of the site that will lead them to a grand manor, the height and length of many great castles of different worlds.

Inside the lobby is a help desk, and whether they ask at it or figure it out, there are a multiple of peculiar metal pillars with holographic screens right at the front of the entrance, with the words 'WELCOME. NEWCOMERS, PLEASE REGISTER' visible on their screens, as well as spoken.

These are the registration points, and putting on their colour-coded bands and registering them and their SCA will initiate a quick biometric scan, and a screen to approve them.

"Welcome to Aquafir, please enjoy your stay! Map data has been downloaded to your SCA."
And just what can they find and get up to? Bring up your SCA's brochure and maps, and discover all of the facilities waiting for you.

[ Welcome to Aquafir ]

A TL;DR notes version of event/prompts: (click to show)

EVENT BASICS: The OOC post. Event runs for Merriment 22 to the evening of M24 (August 12th- August 17th). Voidtreckers are taken to a dome-shaped resort planet to stay at Aquafir. The train will be staying with them, so characters can go back there/stay there as they please.

Everyone must wear the bands given to them that signify their ages. Yellows for ages 0-12, Green for 13-17, Black for 18+. Everyone has 30 suncoins to spend.

The amusements are as follows:

MANOR: In the East Wing are spas, manicure/pedicures, hot baths, hookah lounges, a bar to smoke at. In the West Wing is a bingo hall and casino, as well as intimacy rooms. These can be pillow cuddle rooms, places to dress up in animal costumes, and also rooms for sexual encounters. The latter rooms can only be accessed by people with black bands, as well as the casinos.

CABINS, EATERIES: The cabins are near to the manor. Voidtreckers are assigned rooms based on their train-cabins. Ideas of cabin interiors can be found here! Make adjustments as you please. There are eateries such as hog roasts (all types of meat), a Pizza Palace, and a fancy cable car ride around the compound. You can also have meal kits, to cook for yourself.

PLAY ZONE: Split into four zones: yellow tag is a giant fun house with multiple ballpits to get lost inside; green tag are obstacle courses, imagine Ninja Warrior; black band has a proper fitness gym, as well as its own arcade. Everyone gets ball pits.

There's also access to an arcade everyone can visit, and there's the Dance Dungeon, a VR experience where you dance to defeat monsters. Sounds like practice for some folks on the train.

SWIMMING PARK: Found in the west There's indoor and outdoor pools, large twisting slides and also deck chairs for lounging on. There's shallow kiddy pools, and also some fake 'caverns' that lead deeper underground into spots where you can suit up, put on a breathing mask (no oxygen tank necessary) and ear plugs for decompression sickness (or handy press-on clips, if you don't have ears) and go for a dip.

EVERYTHING ELSE: To the east is a large forest with amusements inside, an art tent near it (free to use, with sketching, painting, and sculpture work available), as well as a fishing lake (boats can be rented for 1 suncoin). There's hills for picnics and also small platforms for lounging on, or for using their telescopes at night for stargazing.

SHOPS: Given this is more of a holiday park, what can be bought is limited. There will be tourist t-shirts, shorts and sundresses with the name 'Aquafir' on them somewhere, as well as swimwear. There's sunhats, teddy bears, some food and/or alcohol hampers suitable for different species. A better list can be found here.

PAMPERING: THE MANOR. A sizeable establishment, there is plenty to be found inside the main establishment of Aquafir. Separated by an East and West Wing, the manor provides a few forms of relaxation and entertainment separated from the main attractions.

○ In the East Wing are the spas and baths: massage beds, manicure and pedicure services, facials, skincare therapy; mudbaths, saunas, hot baths and tanning salons, and even ice and lava pools. ...for particular species that like to visit, you see.

• There are also smoking rooms, by a few meanings. Some are simple relaxation rooms where people can take in soul and mind healing scents, close their eyes and let their emotional and mental traumas slip away. Or, there's an enviromental bar for sitting down for your standard smoke, and yes, drinks are available.

○ And then there's a hookah lounge for visitors, with a few recreational drugs that can be ordered from a menu, depending on your colour band and what your biology can handle. Don't worry about the second-hand smoke knocking you out when you enter: faint see-through curtains cover around the different seating areas, ensuring a minimum of the smoke escapes, as well as draping beads that help contain it. Because some stones can just do that/

• In the West Wing is a different type of indulgence... gambling, and bingo. Only bingo is available to all colour-bands, while the gambling floor is for black band holders. Lighted in the proper aesthetics and musical numbers, the chance to win more suncoins is available to the daring. Card games, slot machines, and every other 'just legal' form of entertainment can be found around. Will you try your luck?

And don't worry, there's prizes in bingo, too. Tickets can be bought for a suncoin, and a whole array of prizes, from giant teddy bears to sports equipment can be won.

○ Beyond the gambling and bingo rooms are the Intimacy Rooms. These can be rooms for hanging out, with lush seating areas and sound systems, and access to minibars available for a suncoin and the right band (soft drinks for yellow, alcohol for black). A couple come with animal outfits, for whatever reason. Likely fun, given the face make-up kits and the reminder warning them that this is a room for yellow tag activities, and there's even a couple of rooms stuffed with pillows too, like this. Also, a ballpit room.

• But not every room is just for friendly cuddling. There are black banded rooms designed for sexual encounters, with rooms offering a range of experiences for couples (or more)! This ranges from protection and a private space to more intense experiences. The helpful staff will talk anyone through the services offered and are there to make sure everything is completely consensual and fun.

Each of these intimacy rooms have a price to use- a sun coin per person for an hour. Each of the zones require an arm band to be scanned before you can enter so adults can enjoy their more adult fun knowing that the kids are safely lost in a ball pit somewhere else!

REST AND FOOD: CABIN GROUNDS

○ Exiting the manor brings you out onto a multitude of paths and choices to pick. Don't worry, for you always have a map on your SCA. But the closest to reach are the cabin lodges. Sitting in rows but not too close together, they allow privacy, but also next-door neighbours. The interior is comfortable, with Voidtreckers arranged in rooms by their train cabins and cabinmates. And for those who share in a double room still do, having a space entirely to themselves.

For less than human species, there are accomodations that may be useful for them resting up, and whatever they need to move around. Disabilities are also accounted for.

○ While there is a cafeteria in the hotel itself, or the opportunity to pick up free cooking boxes, there are also a whole array of eateries that can be found around the compound. From hog (and alien meat) roasts, to pizza buffets, and the unmissable cable car restaurant that leads guests around the whole compound with stunning views, there is plenty of delicious food to be shared with good company.

ENTERTAINMENT: PLAY ZONE

Welcome to the Play Zone, home of fantasy and fun! This hub is split into four zones by colour tag, and there's plenty to be found if one explores. Chirpy music plays the most sugary tunes from the main 'courtyard' of this cutesy kingdom town, where one can approach the bubbly-labelled Sweet Tavern, the drinks it serves with names such as 'Sugar Rush' and 'Pink Power'. The food is predominantly sweet based with ice cream, waffles and milkshakes. There's also a stand serving different types of cotton floss! For all kinds of mouths and teeths.

But what about inside the castle itself? There are four draw bridges from the courtyard leading to the four zones that correspond to your colour bands. And they are...

○ The yellow zone leads to a plethora of rooms down its many corridors, with most of them containing - ball pits. So many ballpits, with all the trimmings one can hope to come with them. It's strange though, you will find that it's easy to get in, but once you are in ... it's much harder to find the exit. Whereabouts are you in the ballpit? Wasn't the slide over here? When did it turn jungle-themed!?

This is surely to be the kind of fun to keep the kids occupied for hours.

○ The green zone has more teen-themed adventures. Including trampolining, a foam based obstacle course and of course drop slides. There's also a chill out zone with video games, bean bags and places just to lie down and ride out that sugar crash or snuggle with friends.

○ The black zone also has a ball pool as well as a gym with exercise equipment and some video games for those who see gym equipment as an insult to their concept of fun.

○ Topping it off, the fourth drawbridge leads to an arcade. A whole host of different games can be found here. Some will be familliar and some not. Some are single player, some team games and some are multiplayer on the merit that you need eight arms to play it.

○ Connected to the arcade is the Dance Dungeon. Fight monsters, discover secret passageways and disarm traps all through the power of dance! Level up, be ready for new songs to drop and keep on dancing all the way to the final boss.

A mix between an escape room and a dance mat this game can get addictive. Using simple VR technology teams are transported into many different story lines where saving the day requires some killer dance moves!

It's a lot of fun and open to everyone, though yellow banded guests will need a chaperone!

OUTDOORS: SWIMMING AND NATURE

You could lose yourself for days inside the Play Zone, but hopefully you don't. For there's more to explore, from the Shopping Cabins littered around, the Art Tents where everyone of different skill level can join in with painting, pottery and more; the Lakes are wide and beautiful, ready for fishing or taking a boat on, and still, even more...

○ There's the nature walks, a large dense forest with trails and even an adventure playground for those with yellow bands- though it has a more exhilarating area for the older kids. For everyone else there is a more challenging woodland scramble course.

○ But going farther in will lead you into what's known as the Jungle Jog, where everything becomes more green than brown, and there's no telling where your feet will touch. It's humid, wet, and all that's available here is to get lost, though there are teleport points. ... if you can tell that they are by the green moss growing over each of the metal poles. But don't worry, they'll still work.

Waterfalls can be found, old rickety (in appearance) bridges, a cliff to climb, and even for those who venture far and deep enough, a cave...with a ballpit inside. The perfect recreation of everything to be found in any realistic jungle setting. This area is for all though those with green and yellow armbands will need chaperones. A black-banded guest can supervise up to three green banded guests in this area though yellow banded guests will need an adult each!

•

For those who aren't into jungles however, there's the Swim Palace, and do we have pools for you. The centrepiece of this is not just a piece, but pieces. There's a outdoor pool complete with fountain and five lane slide. This is surrounded by a terrace that holds small splash zones and spots where you can lay out on deck chairs. Twice a day the area comes alive as enthusiastic hosts lead whoever is around in Aqua Disco!

There's plenty to do inside too from the large family pool that hosts floating courses or smaller inflatables. The wave machine happens often and is always a lot of fun. Upstairs hosts a kid pool and a basic swimming pool for learner swimmers.

For adults who would rather swim without all this chaos there is a black-band only pool with lanes for serious swimming. Or perhaps water polo is your thing? Plenty of games to be played in the sports pool on the third floor. Above that are the slides, from twisters to straight drops and everything in between each lands in a specially designated landing zones. Finally on the top most floor there is a quiet pool that remains open even after dark, for moonlight swimming.

• There's also cavern entrances around the Swim Palace, which lead down into underwater walkways, as well as spaces for deep-diving. If you cast your gaze above in the free-swimming areas, you will see the ground floor swimming pools, the hazy sight of swimmers above. But this is for the people who want a more sea-like experience, with masks for one's nose and mouths, to allow them to breathe despite the lack of oxygen.

NIGHTTIME: A MOONLIT NIGHT

There's no forced sleeping schedules here in Aquafir. When the night comes, so do the stars, as well as a shift in entertainment. Visit the many eateries around the compound, gather around and make a firepit close to the cabin lodges. Or, if you're still looking for some fun and excitement...

○ Inside the manor's courtyard, it becomes a fun show. The central stage is active from early evening with a kid friendly mini disco (open to all, get those action dances ready) followed by family friendly entertainment. Guests will find the first night there is a magician, the second a talent show that all are welcome to join in, and the third night is a musical show about a magical squirrel. The night ends with a more serious disco and of course, karaoke.

○ For those wanting more intense entertainment there is an underground nightclub for black banded guests, and also a specially designed green band only nightclub, serving soft drinks and allowing the teens to let off some steam.

○ There's also no missing the countless bike and walk paths around, and the few hills dotted around. The hills are perfect for stargazing at night, and there's even a few nearby platforms for observing the stars through telescopes at night. And it's your lucky holiday - you don't have to pay to use them!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He looks over at the new arrival. He isn't a particularly social person but he also isn't rude. At least...he doesn't mean to be but sometimes he imagines he comes off as such.

He shakes his head, "You are not disturbing me." It is not his place to tell someone they cannot be there. This area is open to all of them.

"It's awful beautiful here, isn't it?" she said quietly. It was hard to take her eyes of the stars - especially since she didn't know when she'd get the chance again.

He nods and looks up again. "This world is peaceful. That peace is reflected in the sky." The many stars that they seem to travel through to get to the many planets that reside amongst them. Concepts that Lan Wanji has never had to think of before coming to this train.

"I think that's what I'll miss most on the train. Being outside and seeing the stars." She was going to take full advantage of both while they were here. "But you're right, the peacefulness here makes it all even better."

She looked over at him. "M'sorry, I should have introduced myself, I'm Nell Ingram."

He gives a small bow in greeting, "Lan Wangji." Of Gusu...does that even matter any more? Seems unlikely since many on the train wouldn't know where that is. He has to agree with her about how he intends to stay outside as much as possible.

"We must enjoy outside as long as we can." Because even if they are outside on the next world, it doesn't mean it will be peaceful or that they can enjoy it.

"Nice to meet you, Lan Wangji," Nell said with a shy smile. "I sure do plan to spend as much time outside as I can. I... I miss my woods back home. My land."

"I do as well." All the modern technologies of the train and the worlds they travel to is foreign to him. Despite all the conveniences now given to them he would still prefer to be at home.

"This is similar to my world. More then the other areas."

Nell hesitated then sat down a short distance from him. "Does your world have trees and forests like this? Can you tell me about it?"

He nods, "We do not have things like...trains." He turns and looks off towards the lights in the distance of the hotel and busier areas. Lan Wangji is not a man of words and even less so when asked to describe the place he misses more then anything. Doing so would reveal more emotion then he would ever chose to show.

"It is not always peaceful but it is home."

"We have trains, but where I live, well, we live very simply," Nell said. "We don't have all these new-fangled machines and all. I grow most of my own food and live in my house in woods like these. I miss it on the train. It's just not the same."

"I imagine living on a train is new to most." If not everyone. He doesn't think many would find this kind of life to be normal. But living simply he does understand.

"My home is in the mountains."

She smiled at him. "That must be nice. I'm up on a hill and just this side of a sharp ridge. Are you up high where it's most always cold? We get some snow and all in the winter, but Tennessee is pretty warm a lot of the time."

"We have cold springs all year round. There is summer but it isn't as hot as some areas." The mountains keep things cooler as does the woods. But they do still have enough of a change of seasons.

"Cold springs in the forest on a mountain..." Nell closed her eyes to imagine it. "Mmmm... It sounds beautiful. I'd miss it too."

She opened her eyes again and watched the stars silently. "Thank you for sharing with me."

He nods and looks up at them as well. "We will get back to our homes someday." He has to hold onto that belief. Because he does miss his home terribly.

"I hope I still have a home to go back to," Nell said. "I'm afraid that the church men will have taken it over by the time I get back. I don't know what will happen to me then."

He doesn't quite understand that so he looks over at her. "Your home is under attack?"

"When my husband died he left the house and the land to me. But the church we'd left said it should have come to them and demanded I return it and come back to the church to be married off to someone else of their choosing. I refused and I won the fight to be considered the owner. But they keep trying to get the land and me. And they're willing to hurt me to do it."

She was quiet for a moment thinking about the physical hurt they'd attempted and the killing of her dogs. "With me not there, ain't nothin' to stop them taking it over."

His eyes narrow at the thought that they might force her to marry someone she does not love but unfortunately where he is from that is quite often the case. He might not fully support that kind of thought process but he knows that is tradition sometimes and he is also not one to go against tradition.

"Perhaps someone will fight for it in your stead until you return."

"Maybe." She didn't think it was likely, but it was nice to imagine that maybe someone would step up.

"But I suppose there's no use worryin' about things I can't change," she sighed and then made herself smile. "'Specially when we're in such a beautiful place, right?"

He nods and looks up at the sky above them, grateful to have one he knows is true and not a figment of their imaginations. "It is acceptable to worry about things you can't control. But sometimes it is also acceptable to momentarily forget."

She took in a deep quiet breath and let it out slowly as she watched the stars, letting the peacefulness fill her. "I think you'un is right. And right now is the time to enjoy the stars and this place while we can."

He can agree with that as he settles into silence. He has already spoken more then he normally would. ANd now they both deserve to enjoy the stars while they can.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Rest and Relaxation: Aquafir Resort

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