thisavrou_log | January World Travel

Entry tags:

January World Travel

Who: Anyone and everyone
When: Jan. 10 and onward
Where: Allcoran
What: New save file

Once again, the faint lights that can occasionally be found floating through the halls of Avagi coalesce around the Ingress shrines, opening the door to a new world. This time, there is no fixed connection between the portals and particular locations on the new world. Stepping through any portal will deposit the visitor anywhere on Allcoran — how random.

The world is a colorful and hospitable one that resembles Earth in a few ways — it has a bright sun, green plants, and humanoid residents. But as the travelers explore, they'll discover some oddities as they learn their way around.

The Town

The only settlement is deceptively large for the number of locals that can be encountered on the streets, which are wide and laid out in a basic grid pattern. The level of technology is vaguely medieval — no computers or cars here! A happy tune can be heard in the distance, although the musician who must be playing it always seems to be a block or two away. The town itself is referred to as just that, with no apparent name. Notable locations include:

The Inn: Need a break? No problem. Guests won't get their own hotel room, though; the inn has three beds next to each other upstairs, and that's it. But lack of privacy shouldn't be a concern. The moment a person gets into one of the beds, they immediately fall into a deep sleep, only to wake up feeling like no time has passed at all.
The Market: Need a sword? There are no background checks or weapons laws here! Need something to eat? The selection isn't wide, but a single large, colorful fruit or glowing green liquid in a vial (maybe it's an energy drink?) will instantly leave one sated. Sadly, the shops only accept gemstones as payment.
The Empty Houses: Stealing is wrong. But leaving jewels underneath common household objects is foolish. And many of the town's houses are unlocked and empty.
The Backyard Farm: Don't bother the chickens. Mass-pecking is a terrible way to die.

The Allcorans like their routines. During their waking hours, Allcorans can generally be found in the same areas, seeing to the same tasks, or just standing around people-watching. If approached, most are happy to engage in friendly conversation with the visitors, but their areas of interest are narrow. Some will talk about the town, their own lives or hobbies, or the fact that "Tribute Day" is coming soon. If the topic is changed, they'll inevitably bring it back to what they want to talk about. But it might be possible to get them to open up more by agreeing to do them a favor (fairly exchanged for a reward, of course), which will inevitably take travelers to...

The Wild

Immediately outside the town's boundaries is a lively, colorful landscape, where plenty of trees and other greenery can be found. As travelers venture farther, they'll discover surprisingly diverse environments, including a jungle, a waterlogged region and an area where everything is just...big. They may also find remnants of a lost society in the form of castles and dungeons littered about the land, most of which have become home to dangerous creatures.

From bears to turtles to unrecognizable creatures, the fauna can be strangely hostile. Stranger still are the ledges float in mid-air, occasionally moving, and the way that, inexplicably, people may find that they can only move forward or backward, not left or right—and sometimes they're forced to do so. Laws of physics? What are those? Those caught in a desperate situation might risk touching one of the glowing plants or animals occasionally found in the Wild. They grant great power at the cost of altering one's body to partially fuse with that of an animal.

If you've had enough and want to head back to town or to Avagi? Better hope you didn't agree to do someone a favor. Words have power on Allcoran, and many will find themselves unable to break their word and abandon the task. If a person considers abandoning their task, they will feel a strong sense of reluctance and guilt at the prospect. If they push past the feeling and attempt to walk away, they'll find the landscape itself seeming to twist itself around until they're once more facing the way they didn't want to go. Even if a volunteer should die, they'll find themselves alive and whole back at the last conversation they had, or the last area they walked into. No signs will remain of the failed attempt.

Simply put, a sidequest accepted must be a sidequest completed. Good thing the ACEs still work—try phoning a friend for help.

The Arena

The miles-wide arena is the most violent place in the world, a training ground for those who would be tributes to The Ones From Above. Dropped in parachutes from a floating platform, dozens find themselves in a space that contains guns, knives and derelict buildings, along with just enough rubble to use as cover, competitors kill each other to prove their worth—again and again and again.

The weapons are real and so are the competitors, but every body that falls disappears within one minute, only to reappear elsewhere in the arena. The same will happen to any visitor who is unfortunate enough to fall. The deaths are very real, but they will rise again without the intervention that the dead experience on Avagi. Is this endless death and life a gift or a curse?

Those lucky enough to survive will experience one particularly strange effect in the arena: although others can see them, if they look down at their bodies, they will find that from their perspective, everything but their arms have become invisible.

Each round in the arena lasts one hour. Racking up a large number of kills may be unpleasant, but it does come with compensation beyond being deemed worthy as a Tribute. The participant with the top kill count each day receives a plain chest that could contain anything from a weapon to jewels to a particularly snazzy shirt.

Extra Notes

While Allcoran might lack normal laws of physics, that doesn't mean it doesn't have its own constraints—or consequences for breaking them. Visitors who move too quickly may find themselves not merely rebounding, but clipping through some of the surfaces they hit. Individuals who fly straight up may continue indefinitely without seeming to gain distance... or, find themselves trapped above invisible barriers in the air. And whatever you do, don't step too close or too sideways to your conversation partners. You may not appreciate the view (cw: game render body horror).
Although food and drink are available, while on Allcoran, no one ever feels truly hungry or thirsty, and there are no bathrooms because no one ever, er, goes. However, food and beverages will restore energy and vitality to people who are tired or injured.
Occasionally, upon achieving a minorly notable feat, a person will hear a thunk as an appropriately labeled trophy drops to the ground nearby. Strange rain they have here.
Any visitor who removes enough articles of clothing will find that their naughty bits appear to be...pixelated. Must be a trick of the light.

[[Check out the OOC post for sidequests, questions, and more information!]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She looks over at her shoulder, alarmed.]

Wait... Darin, can you actually speak like that?

[More things she can't quite wrap her mind around right away. In this case, that she can hear him telepathically like other mice.]

[What the hell are you talking about? Of course I can't speak like this! All that comes out are squeaks!]

[Sure enough, more angry chirps and squeaks.]

[You know, you'd think she'd show a little more concern for me. Nigh-indestructible or not, I still feel pain like a normal person. First she thinks that I think she's weak, then she hardly shows any concern when I plummet into a pit, and now she's relishing the fact that I'm a little rodent? Would it kill her to show a little more concern and affection towards me? Geez!]

[He huffs as only a surly little mouse can and crosses his palms, ears twitching angrily.]

[This is just fantastic. I better be able to change back. I'm not staying like this forever.]

[Oh... oh no... it's too cute. She shouldn't be enjoying this grumpy mouse as much as she is.]

[She really shouldn't be petting his head again.]

Look, I know you're upset about all this, but — I'm sure the transformation is temporary, at least. Unless there's a remedy around here somewhere, waiting for us to find it.

So please, let me look for you. All right?

[Upset? No, I was upset when I fell in here. Now I'm pissed off. What the hell can I even do as a mouse?! How am I supposed to protect you like this? You know, it's bad enough that the strongest woman I know thinks I look down on her, but now I can't even be her shield. Some hero I am. Unless there's some obscure chapter of Altean Royal Knights called the Mouseguard, I'm useless now.]

[He flops dramatically on her shoulder, chirping and squeaking.]

[I guess it could be worse. I don't think I've ever been this close to her before so I can at least enjoy that.]

[Okay, first things first: She is definitely establishing a Mouseguard when this is over. That's amazing. She can already picture their little uniforms.]

[Second, though...]

And in the meantime, you'll still be a lookout for me, won't you? As I'm sure you were planning to do even if I had walked away and left you behind.

[He huffs again]

[Yeah yeah. At least these mouse eyes and ears are good for something. If I see anything bad I'll...I dunno, tug on your ear to get your attention.]

[He rolls lazily onto his back and kicks his feet up in the air to examine them. Yup. Those are tiny mouse paws. He wiggles his fingers a little bit.]

[Somehow, I get the feeling she's enjoying this. The look on her face when she saw me was adorable. Wish I could get that look when I wasn't a stupid mouse.]

This is going to be fun! I couldn't bring my mice along, since even I'll admit this is too dangerous for pets. But now, it's like having one along!

[She starts moving, looking ahead, making it hard to see her expression.]

Still, I was looking forward to this adventure with you, already.

[Oh good, I've been demoted to 'pet.' All of my dreams are coming true at once.]

[Somehow, it was just impossible for him to sit still. He rolls back onto his feet and scampers across her shoulders to the other side and wiggles his nose at the air, sniffing it. Sensing a little bit of a breeze, he tugs her hair towards a passage to her right.]

[Oh, were you now? Because from the way you were complaining and griping and being a giant brat, it sorta felt like you were tagging along just to get your quest over with, like I was a handy means to an end. But what the hell do I know? I'm just a dumb mouse.]

A means to an end? What? No!

[... ... ... which makes it a giveaway that she can hear him. Oops. But this is important!]

If anything, having an excuse to explore the planet with you was the biggest upside to the assignment!

[Darin freezes.]

[Can you...hear what I'm thinking...?]

I've heard every word since you became a mouse.

I didn't expect the telepathy to work like this, really.

[She smiles sweetly.]

[So...you heard...when I thought...?]

Which part? I heard you think a lot of things about me.

[She's curious, briefly, if he'll think it all out loud again or if he has more control than that.]

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH]

[why this]

Please, Darin! It's all right! You have nothing to be embarrassed about!

[Darin immediately climbs on top of her head and buries himself in her hair to hide.]

[THAT'S REALLY EASY FOR YOU TO SAY YOU HEARD MY EVERY THOUGHT ABOUT YOU AND NOT JUST THE ANGRY ONES!!!]

Hey! Get out of there! [She doesn't sound too upset about it, though. She also continues walking through the labyrinth.]

Really, just calm down. This is about the 'adorable' comment, isn't it?

[Nope, he's burrowed into the bun at the top of her head and he is nesting there now.]

[What? No. I don't know what you're talking about. What's adorable?]

Oh, so I'm not adorable anymore. [She gives a soft tsk of disappointment.] I see how it is.

[And already, she's at a dead end. Still, she gives it a quick look-over to see that there aren't any chests or hard-to-see passages around here.]

I guess that means you're the only adorable one around here, at the moment.

[Reading my thoughts is not adorable. It's the opposite of adorable. If you could hear what I was thinking why didn't you let me know sooner??]

[He peeks out from her bun.]

[Hold on, there's a draft behind this wall. Look for a way through.]

Edited 2018-01-20 03:46 (UTC)

A draft? How do you know...?

[There's no obvious way through, and nothing that looks like it would trigger a secret passage. She tries knocking, as if it might tell her where the wall has something built into it.]

I did bring it up, but you didn't seem to believe me.

[When? You never said you could read my mind.]

[Try pressing some of the stones. There might be one that makes the wall swing open. Be careful for traps though.]

I thought you were speaking at first! And... it is speaking, in a sense.

[sounds fake allura]

Like a switch? It's worth a shot. [She starts trying to press in this stone and that stone... but so far, no luck.] ... even if I end up pressing all of these in the process...

[It is not speaking because I would never have said any of those things out loud in front of you. Ever.]

[He crawls out from her bun and scrabbles down the length of her arm, then jumps to the ground, sniffing around. He stops then sits up on his hind legs and takes another whiff at the air, his giant, round, mouse ears tilting to and fro.]

[I definitely smell fresh air...let's see here. Air is more stagnant coming from the way we just walked down. There don't seem to be any cracks...the way the bricks and stones are laid out would make it impossible for a seam to form...I wonder if there's a pressure plate somewhere that moves the wall...maybe it's on a track? This would be a lot easier if I were still human, I could just punch through. Not that Allura would like that. She's probably enjoying the challenge. I do love that about her, but now isn't really the time to relish that. We have to figure a way out of here and a way to get me back to human form.]

[At this point, stream of consciousness and actual thoughts aimed at her are impossible to sort. Looks like he's going to be thinking everything that pops into his head out loud.]

[Does he know he's thinking those things? Should she point it out? You know what, she doesn't want him to start screaming in her mind again, so she's going to leave it be. Just for now.]

On a track? ... it really doesn't look like anything pushes in. Maybe we're overthinking this, and it's merely...

[She places two hands on the wall, and tests it. And then, with some effort, moves the whole thing aside like a heavy stone sliding door.]

... like that!

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