ultrapenumbra | INTRO.

You wake up feeling like you’ve had a rough night’s sleep… maybe a bit jet-lagged, if you’re familiar with the feeling, or perhaps like you, uh, had a little too much to drink last night. Either way, you’re probably not expecting to wake up in a forest clearing, so that might be even more disorienting. It’s not an unpleasant place to wake up, mind. It’s sunny, and there’s a pleasantly cool breeze blowing through. The grass isn’t tall enough that you could get lost in it or that someone could be hiding in it… or something.

There are, in fact, a lot of somethings surrounding you--a veritable menagerie of creatures, some of them adorable, and some of them intimidating… but they seem to be as disoriented as you are. And then, well… you realize something’s a little off about yourself. There’s no pond to look at your new appearance, but… maybe the ground’s a little closer. Maybe you don’t actually have arms and legs at the moment. Maybe you don’t have eyes anymore?

Regardless, something’s definitely up. Fortunately, there’s a path leading out of the clearing, so once you get your bearings and speak with some of the other weird critters you’ve woken up with, you can find… somewhere you can get answers. Well, hopefully, anyway.

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[Stocke has one (1) Big Regret.]

[He's used to weathering dread and panic, even if he doesn't exactly like it. The sharp pang of an instant headache, though? It's bad enough that Stocke's instantly feeling nauseous, and if he weren't a tiny low-to-the-ground multi-legged thing he'd have been hard-put to stay on his feet.]

[Instead he yanks his leg back, staggering a step away on reflex.]

[At least the feeling fades quick, even if it takes the memory of... whatever in the Prophet's name he saw with it. If Jack hadn't screamed and recoiled, this is the point Stocke would've assumed he was under attack; as it is, the Kabuto still leans forward suspiciously.]

[His front legs fold near the fabric... sort of. There's not much room left to go down.]

...did the sunlight hurt you? [Stocke's not in the habit of being a very emotional speaker, but this is so strange incredulity seeps into his voice.]

[Stocke's curious leering is returned as Jack stares at the creature before him, trying to process what on earth it even is. He knows about many things, but sea creatures definitely weren't a thing his creators deemed important enough to give him data on. Sure, alright, this isn't weird at all.

...seriously what is it.

Alas, he slumps a little and sighs as he's confronted with the horrible realisation that...]

It... certainly seems that way.

[...he's stuck under this cloth.]

Well cool, time to let no one else do that, [he says, unaware that it's about to happen several more times.]

I take it that's not a normal predicament people find themselves in... Who are you? Where are we?

[A bug-crab-something, clearly.]

[(No, Stocke doesn't know what he is either.)]

...Stocke. No idea. [And that about rounds up the depth of his knowledge here.]

Assume you're not used to waking up in this shape either.

[Okay, so this fellow definitely isn't a local. Jack isn't sure if that's more or less comforting, actually.

Nonetheless, he straightens himself up and 'stands.' His costume head is upright, at least. The whole apparently-mandatory-cloth thing is really annoying already, actually.]

I guess we're all ending up with some... curious shapes, mm... [He glances around and takes note of the several others around here.] So everyone else is...

...mm! No matter! Surely there's someone around with some answers... Or at the very least, there's surely somewhere that's more than just some clearing in the woods...!

[Stocke scuttles back to standing upright himself. Not that it's much of a change.]

There's a path out of here. Where it leads... [Is anyone's guess.]

[But that's no reason not to follow it and see if they can't find something, and it seems like that's what most of this crew is planning to do.]

...can you walk under there?

I... believe I can do something like that...

[Whether it's actually walking or something... else... cannot be determined. All Jack himself knows for certain is that after several attempts to move, he eventually appears to be moving like a normal creatures. There are just... no visible legs. Or arms. Or anything, actually.

How he's getting around is beyond him. He huffs.] I'll live.

I assume you intend on leaving down that way, then? [He takes a couple motions forward to better observe the path. He figures that's the best way to proceed as well.]

Once everyone's ready to go.

[It makes sense to move as a group, if they've all been dumped here.]

[And even if someone's lying about not being a local and is the cause of all this... keep your enemies close. Keep an eye on them.]

INTRO.

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