Title Soundtrack: Stranger Things Title
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RcPZdihrp4

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Character sheet:

Vanessa

A sensitive soul. Beautiful and weird, charming and vulnerable.

Look: Dainty, disheveled
Age: 17
Origin: Mysterious transfer student

Stats:
Dark +2
Hot +1
Cold -1
Strong -1

Previously on Nightmare Planet:


Yesterday started as an ordinary school day. You got up, ate toast for breakfast, put your books in your bag, and went to school. You had just finished. Then ...

... something ...

... happened.

You and four other teenagers found yourselves transported to a strange wilderness, along with a perfectly spherical section of your school and the street outside. With an unknown planet hanging in the sky over your heads, some of you concluded you were no longer on Earth, while others insisted it was a trick.

As if that wasn't weird enough, both you and a girl called Sam had some kind of dark vision, although neither of you could remember much, and you kept yours hidden from the group.

Before anything could really be done about your situation, darkness fell. The group bunked down in the cars that were brought along with them. Unable to get to sleep, you eventually relieved Sam on watch duty, where you confided in her that, somehow, you shared aspects of her vision. A short time later, when you fell asleep for a moment, you experienced another flash of horror and darkness, like a shadowy hand was reaching out for you.

It's your first night in this strange new place, and it's your turn on watch.

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>>1441183

Soundtrack: Disasterpiece -- Midnight Wood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P05ItJD_n6k

At night the forest comes alive.

Glowing wisps emit a soft green light, floating slowly through the air like fireflies or paper lanterns. They drift and hover, moving seemingly at random, weaving between the dark shapes of the tall, twisted trees.

From all directions, muted by the forest, a multitude of strange hoots and howls call out to each other, sounds not made by any animal you recognize. You shiver in the night's cold and pull your sweater a little tighter. Taking a deep breath through your nose, you inhale a bizarre bouquet of odors -- partly the fragrant, woody aroma you'd expect from a forest, but also a faint whiff of some chemical you can't name.

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>>1441248

All of this would be strange enough without the huge planet floating in the sky over your head, an ice-blue titan looming over the world.

It's all so strange, but it's also ...

>Beautiful ... (Roll +dark)
>Dangerous. (Roll +cold)
>Scary! (Gain the frightened condition)

>>1441259
>Dangerous. (Roll +cold)

>>1441259
>>Dangerous. (Roll +cold)
Can't get too comfortable in unfamiliar territory.

>>1441259

>Beautiful ... (Roll +dark)
>Scary! (Gain the frightened condition)

Both, because why not.

>>1441259
Adding to >>1441267
>Scary! (Gain the frightened condition)

>>1441259
What dice are we rolling?

>>1441308
We roll d10s when he says to roll

>>1441308
It's d10, but I prefer to wait until the vote is decided. Otherwise, if someone gets a high roll right away, everyone votes for that option.

>>1441259
Scary!

>>1441272
>>1441274
>>1441328

Scary! You're not even going to try to act calm or collected about this. You're in a dark wood with glowing lights, and weird howls that might be alien wolves, and something might try to eat you, and the food here might be poisonous, and you have no idea where you are, or if you'll ever see home or your friends or your family again. Twice today you had a weird nightmare vision about a shadowy giant in a dark hall. This is fucked up beyond belief.

You manage to muster your courage enough to keep watching. The others are relying on you. But you feel like butterflies have flown into your stomach and are fluttering around down there. Hopefully you don't throw up.

A sudden noise nearby almost makes you shriek. You clutch the rock you're sitting on tightly as you look towards the source of the noise ...

(Continued)

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>>1441360

Alighting on the branch of a nearby tree is ... is a ... a what? A baby dragon? A six-legged moth?

The creature is about a foot long, pale green, with feathered ears -- wings? -- and tail. It extends a long, thin tongue to lick nectar from a glowing flower on the tree branch.

>Approach it.
>Examine it from a distance.
>Stay the hell away from it.
>Throw something at it.
>Something else.

>>1441381
>>Examine it from a distance.
>>Stay the hell away from it.

>>1441381
>Examine it from a distance.
>Hide

>>1441381
PET IT!

>>1441381
>Examine it from a distance

>>1441390
This
Also let the sleeping people know whats going on, this could call for some fleeing.

>>1441381

It's cute! Part of you wants to run over to it and pet it. For a moment you have a fantasy of finding that you can communicate with it non-verbally, even befriend it. Like a Disney princess with their magical animal companion.

You're too freaked out to actually try that, though. Instead you hide behind the rock you were sitting on, and fearfully watch the thing -- the dragonmoth, you decide you'll call it for now. It sits there on the tree branch, flicking out its long tongue into the tree flower. It takes off, its ear-wings waving gracefully, and flutters to another branch nearby, and begins to feed from another glowing flower. You try to catch a glimpse of fangs, or claws, or stingers, but don't see anything like a weapon. But just because it eats nectar from flowers, that doesn't mean it isn't dangerous. What if it spits poison? What if it's got laser eye beams?

The delicate creature lands on a branch less than fifteen feet away from you. Your heart is pounding. It takes a moment to preen its ear-wings with a middle leg. Geez. It's really adorable. Maybe you really could pet it. If you just reached out you could just ... maybe ...

Splat! A knife flies out of the darkness and lodges in the dragonmoth's abdomen. With a tiny cry, the creature crumples, and the lifeless body falls from the branch to the ground.

"Hell yeah," says Jason, emerging from the darkness with a satisfied grin. "Still got it. Not what I imagined during all that time practicing knife throwing, I gotta admit."

>Thanks! I was freaking out.
>I think it was harmless, but thanks anyway.
>It was adorable! Why would you do that?
>What are you doing up?
>......
>Something else

>>1441490
>>I think it was harmless, but thanks anyway.
>What are you doing up?

>>1441490
>I think it was harmless, but thanks anyway.
>What are you doing up?

>>1441493
no complaints

>>1441490
>>It was adorable! Why would you do that?

>>1441490

"Are you all right, Vanessa?" Jason asks. "Did it attack you?"

"I think it was harmless, but thanks anyway," you say. "It looked like a big moth."

"I just saw it was pretty close to you. I didn't want to wait and find out it shot laser eye-beams or something. We have to be careful." He walks over to the corpse and kneels to examine it. "You're right, though. This doesn't exactly look like a vicious predator." Careful not to actually touch the animal with his skin, he retrieves his knife and wipes it off on the grass. He stands up, then glances at you before averting his gaze. "Sorry if I scared you."

"That's okay," you say. "I just wasn't expecting you. What are you doing up?"

"It's my turn on watch," he says.

"Uh, you're a little early, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Jason shrugs. "I woke up, couldn't get back to sleep. Figured I might let you finish your shift early. Or I could, you know. Give you some company. Pretty lonely out here. Maybe you could use someone to talk to." He gives you a smile that's probably charmed its way into half a dozen cheerleader's skirts. It's an obvious play, but sometimes the obvious ones work.

>>1441577

You ...

>Flirt back. He's kind of cute. (+Hot)
>Flirt back. He's useful. (+Hot)
>Shut him down. (+Cold)
>Laugh it off and move on.

And ...

>Ask him about himself.
>Ask what he thinks of your situation.
>Ask him something else.
>Head back to the van you're sleeping in.

>>1441581
>Laugh it off and move on.
>Ask him about himself.

>>1441581
>>Shut him down. (+Cold)
Killer of cute things.

>>1441581
Flirt back, he's useful
Ask him about the situation

>>1441581
>Laugh it off and move on.
>Ask him what he thinks of your situation.

>>1441581
>Laugh it off and move on.
>Ask him about himself.

>Laugh it off and move on.
>Ask him about himself.
>Ask him what he thinks of your situation.

Writing.

>>1441577

"Sure, we can hang out for a bit," you say, trying to sidestep his attempt at flirting. "Why don't you take the sitting rock? I'm gonna stretch my legs."

"Are you sure? It's pretty cold out here. It's an important survival technique to share body heat for warmth, you know."

You wag your finger at him in mock sternness. "No funny business, mister."

Jason's smile turns sheepish. "Yeah, guess this ain't really the time. Or the place." He looks up at the frost-blue planet in the sky, and his good humor vanishes. "Whatever that is."

You walk to stand beside him and look up at the planet together. "What do you think? About this whole situation, I mean."

"Hell, I don't know. So far I've kept hoping I'm just dreaming, or I took some serious drugs at a party. I'll wake up in my bed, or on a friend's couch, or someone's back lawn. This will all just be one big fucked-up vision I had." Jason kicks at the ground in frustration. "But that just keeps on not happening."

"What about that stuff Tyler was saying?" you say. "Do you think we could really be on another planet?"

"I don't fucking know!" he explodes. "How am I supposed to know anything? This is some Star Wars bullshit! I'm just a football jock who slept through half of my survival classes at cadets. This is totally fucked!" He stops when he sees you shrinking back, and takes a breath. "Shit. Sorry. I'm kind of tense, you know?" He slumps down on the sitting rock with his head in his hands.

>>1441769

"It's okay," you say. You try to think of something to distract him. "Hey, um, why don't you tell me something about yourself? You, um, seem like an athletic guy. What was that about football? I haven't seen you at any of the games."

He grunts. "Sorry. Ex-football jock, I should have said. Had to quit the team. Haven't even graduated high school and I'm already washed up," he says, bitterness seeping into his voice.

"Sorry," you say, mentally slapping yourself in the forehead for bringing up another depressing topic. "I guess it's complicated."

"What's complicated? I was on the team. Now I'm not. That's it," he says, contradicted by his obvious anger. His hands tighten into fists. "Not like it matters now, since I'll probably never see the team again. Or the coach. Or the cheerleaders. Or my family. Or anyone. It's just the five of us, lost out here in wherever the fuck this is." He sighs heavily, his anger deflating. "We're alone."

>>1441786

>We are alone. But maybe that's okay. (+Dark)
>Pull yourself together. (+Cold)
>We've got each other. (+Hot)
>You're right. We're fucked.
>Something else.

>>1441789
>We are alone. But maybe that's okay. (+Dark)

>>1441789
>Something else.
"However we got here, it probably wasn't a complete accident. As far as I know, huge chunks of land don't just disappear on their own. Maybe if we survive long enough, we can find a way back."

>>1441789
>We are alone. But maybe that's okay. (+Dark)

>>1441795
>>1441839

>We are alone. But maybe that's okay. (+Dark)

Roll 1d10+2

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>1441845
+2

>>1441786

"It's possible we'll get back, you know," you say first. "However we got here, it wasn't a complete accident. Big chunks of land don't disappear on their own, right? Maybe if we survive long enough, we can find a way back. But ..." Between the glowing trees and floating wisps, you look off into the far-off darkness of the forest shadows.

"But what?" asks Jason.

"Think of it this way," you say, still trying to grasp your own thoughts on the situation. "There's no-one else here, right? That means there's no adults. Which means no authorities. There's no other kids, so that means no cliques or bullshit popularity contests. No-one to look down on us, or push us around, or tell us to behave in a certain way. No society or rules. There's nothing ..."

Thinking about the freedom, the sheer possibilities, you feel a nervous thrill pass through your body, a kind of electricity. The dark shadows seem to grow larger, enveloping you. In the strange twilit night in the glowing forest, this strange world calls to you.

>>1441906

An image occurs to you, unbidden, confusing and jumbled. The five of you, standing at the foot of a great tower that reaches high into the storming sky. The door to the tower is closed. The sky crashes with lightning, stormclouds partly obscuring the ice-blue of the planet overhead. Now instead of everyone, it's just you. The door to the tower is open. You're holding something. A key? A map?

You're shaken out of it, literally, as you realize Jason has been tugging at your shoulder. "Hey! Vanessa! Snap out of it!"

"Sorry," you mumble, trying to piece your reality back together. Was that just your imagination, or--?

"It's all right, I'm just. You know. I'm worried about you. This is no place to be spacing out, you hear me?" Jason sighs. "Why don't you go on back to the van? Get some rest. The real shit starts tomorrow morning, when we try to figure out what to do."

>>1441908

"I'm telling you, we should stay here!" insists Kate, starting to get shrill. "If we're going to be rescued, where else are they going to look? If they show up and we're off gallivanting through the woods on some fucking camping trip, then what? How the hell are we supposed to get home unless we wait for someone here?"

"It's too dangerous," says Jason, restraining his impatience. "We'll have attracted attention with our arrival. If it turns out we're not alone here, they'll be coming for us, and we can't assume that they're friendly. That, and there's no water or food here. Once we run out of what's in the cars and lockers, that's it. We need to find someplace with resources and set up a proper camp there."

"Our priority should clearly be to learn as much possible about our situation," says Tyler, his arms folded, looking like he can't believe he has to explain this. "If some mechanism brought us here, we need to be searching for it and learning how to operate it. If it doesn't exist, then we'll still need to know everything about this new land we find ourselves in. Staying in one place won't accomplish that. We need to stay on the move and do as much exploring as possible."

The three of them look at Sam. She shakes her head, mouth shut tightly, not meeting anyone's eyes.

>>1441928

"Well .. I guess that just leaves you, Vanessa," says Kate. "What do you think about all this?"

>Make camp here.
>Find a better camp location.
>Stay on the move.
>I don't know.
>Something else.

>>1441932
>>Stay on the move.

>>1441932
>Stay on the move.

>>1441932
>Stay on the move.

>Stay on the move.

I'll be resuming this tomorrow based on this vote -- about 16 hours from now.

>>1441928

You think over your options and come to a decision. At first, it's tough to get up your courage to say anything. You're still frightened from being alone for hours in a dark wilderness last night. But eventually you work up the nerve to speak.

"I agree with Tyler," you say. "We should be staying on the move, trying to find out about this place. We won't figure out where we are by sitting around, or find a way to get home."

Tyler glances at you, then looks away. "It's the rational choice." You see a smile flicker across his face, maybe the first positive expression you've seen him make, before disappearing just as quickly.

"Hmm ..." Jason thinks it over. "It's true we should be moving away from here, so I guess I'm all right with it. But we should still keep an eye out for a good spot to set up some kind of camp. Last night was peaceful and all, but we don't know what the weather is like here. Can't rely on blankets under the trees forever."

"Are you serious?" demands Kate. "What about being rescued?"

Jason shrugs. "We've got to deal with what's in front of us." He glances in your direction, and you recall your words to him last night. Your thoughts that, somehow, being alone here isn't so bad.

>>1444010

Tyler looks down at Samantha. He's taller than her, even though he's two years younger. "Sam?" he asks quietly.

Still unable to look at anyone, she nods her head.

"I can't believe this!" yells Kate. "Don't any of you want to see your families again? You just want to go running off into the shadowy woods to get eaten by monsters? This is so fucked up." She storms off in a huff.

"S-s-should we talk to her?" asks Sam.

Tyler pushes his glasses up. "She'll be fine. We should get our supplies together. Figure out what to bring with us."

>>1444027

You could ...

>Go talk to Kate

Or you could give her a minute alone, and talk to someone else while you help with the supplies ...

>Jason
>Tyler
>Sam

Or you could just

>Space out while thinking about how fucked up this is

>>1444039
>>Go talk to Kate
Comfort her.

>>1444039
>Go talk to Kate

>>1444039
>>Go talk to Kate

>>1444039

While the other three start to discuss the equipment and supplies you should bring on the expedition, you slip away to go find Kate. She might need somebody to talk to.

"Kate?" you call out to her, moving past the ruined pieces of school to the parking lot. "It's Vanessa. I just want to make sure you're okay. Are you -- eek!" You're startled by the sound of smashing glass.

You run towards the sound and round the corner of a van to see Kate beating the hell out of a car windshield with a baseball bat she's found somewhere. The glass crunches and breaks under the repeated blows. Kate screams in rage on the final strike, and the windshield shatters to pieces.

"Phew!" Kate stands back and wipes her forehead off, then realizes you were watching. She looks away, embarassed. "Sorry. Just venting."

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>>1444136

"It's okay," you say. "We're in a pretty fucked-up situation. If you ask me, I think we're each handling it surprisingly well, considering. Some other teenagers in our situation might've already killed each other, or run off into the woods and gotten eaten by some monster."

Jason comes running over, crowbar held at the ready. "What's going on? Everything all right?"

"Just blowing off some steam, Jace," says Kate, not looking at him, giving the baseball bat a home-run swing at the air. "Nothing to see here."

"It's fine, Jason," you say. "Tell the other two we're fine. I'm just gonna talk to Kate for a moment."

Jason looks from you to Kate, then back again. "Well ... all right, if you say so. Good luck with your girl talk, I guess." He walks back to the others.

>>1444139

You say to Kate ...

>I know you're freaking out, but you have to stay cool. (+Cold)
>Did you know you're cute when you're mad? (+Hot)
>You're pretty strong, huh?
>Did you and Jason know each other before?
>We'll be all right.
>......
>Something else.

(QM note that roll-based options can give you better results than the non-roll options, though not without some risk of course.)

>>1444147
>>You're pretty strong, huh?
>>Did you and Jason know each other before?

>>1444139
>You're pretty strong, huh?
>Did you and Jason know each other before?

>>1444139
>Lemme give that thing a few swings. This situation is fucked.

"You're pretty strong, huh?" You take a seat on the hood of a nearby, undamaged car. "I got the impression you were just -- you know."

"Just one of those popular girls," says Kate. "I know." The windshield shattered, she gives the driver's window a crack. "You look a certain way, everyone puts you in a fucking box--" Smash! "Assumes you're useless--" Crash! "I'm used to it. But yeah, I used to play a lot of sports growing up. Guess I haven't lost my touch."

"Looks pretty good to me," you say. "I never got into that sort of thing. Too small." You lean back on the car's hood and kick your little legs in the air. "Um. I noticed you and Jason seem like you know each other. Is that where you met him, with sports stuff?"

"Yeah, sort of. Even after I quit sports, I used to hang out with some of the cheerleaders, and they of course partied with the jocks all the time. So I ran into him here and there on the weekends, or at sporting events. He was just, you know. Some guy. I didn't really know him." Kate shrugs. "I think he's got a good heart, even if he is as dumb as the rest of them."

"Them?"

Kate grins. "Boys."

"Yeah, true." You hop off the car. "Hey, let me get a few swings with that, will you? This situation is fucked."

"Okay, but watch yourself."

You take the baseball bat in your hands, feeling the rough grip tape. You raise it up, and, mustering your limited strength, smack it into the rear window. The impact sends a jolt through your arms, but it does leave a noticeably-sized crack. You strike a second time, widening the cracked area. Laughing with the thrill of cutting loose, you lean way back for a third blow, put everything into it, swing wildly off balance, and almost pinwheel off your feet.

"Woah there!" Kate catches you by the shoulders, laughing. "Don't get carried away." The two of you meet eyes for a few moments before she laughs nervously and looks away, embarassed, her hands still on your shoulders. "Hey, I'm sorry I got riled up like that. Thanks for talking to me, Vanessa. Oh, right." She takes the baseball bat back from you, holding it up like a weapon. "I'd better hang onto this. I'll be your protector, all right? If anything tries to eat you, I'll beat the crap out of it with this."

"Thanks," you say. "Will you be all right?"

"Yeah," Kate says. "I'm fine." But as the two of you walk back to the group, you can't help noticing the tense set of her jaw, or the white-knuckle grip she's got on that baseball bat.

The other three have made good progress sorting the supplies into useful, portable things you can bring along with you, and dividing them up for everyone to carry. "We distributed everything according to estimated carrying capacity," says Tyler, explaining the two smaller piles, presumably for you and Sam.

"Tried to give everyone a little of everything useful too," says Jason. "Just in case you get separated."

"W-w-we won't let that happen, though, right?" Sam says anxiously. "We'll stay together. I-I-I mean, you know in horror movies. "Let's split up," or "I'll check out the basement, you stay here,"" she says, mimicking bad film actor dialogue.

"Definitely," Kate says. "We'll stick together."

"One we've finished preparations," says Tyler. "We just have one important question."

"What's that?" you ask him.

"In which direction do we travel?" Tyler looks around. "I still haven't been able to determine anything about where this "glowing forest" begins or ends. The trees are too high to see outside. Unless we get more information somehow, the choice is arbitrary."

"W-we could always roll dice for it," Sam says with a shaky grin. "Th-th-that's what we did at my game sometimes, when we didn't know what to do next."

You could just pick a random direction and go. On the other hand, maybe there's some way of figuring out just what you're in for.

You used to be pretty good at climbing trees when you were a youngster. Maybe you could get up one of these things and get a viewpoint from higher ground? Up there you'd probably be able to see the surrounding area.

On the other hand ... you remember last night, when you looked into the darkness between shadows, and had those strange visions. Maybe you could tap into that again? What was that feeling? A strange kind of electricty, and an enveloping shadow ...

>Volunteer to climb a tree.
>Try to access those visions again.
>Roll one of Sam's dice for it.
>Pick arbitrarily. (North, East, South, West)

>>1444306
>>Volunteer to climb a tree.
"Make sure to catch me if I fall, Kate!"

>>1444290
Kate a qt.

>>1444306
>East
East never did me wrong

Oh, one more option:
>Convince someone else to climb a tree. (+Hot)

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>>1444311
>Convince someone else to climb a tree
Bout time we get some stats

>>1444306
supporting >>1444309
>Don't look up my skirt okay silly KATE

>Volunteer to climb a tree.

Board problems are messing with my style, but I'll try to get this update out later today and get to the direction vote.

"I used to climb trees a lot when I was a kid," you say. "Maybe I can get up one of these. I can probably get a good look around from up there, right? Get some idea of where we're going."

"I agree that could provide useful information," Tyler says, pushing his glasses up.

"Y-you could say "Thanks for doing something dangerous to help us out, Vanessa,"" Sam mutters to him, but he just shrugs.

"I don't know, Vanessa," Kate says doubtfully, looking up at the treetops. "That's pretty high up. Are you okay with this? Will you be all right?"

"Sure I will! I've got you to catch me if I fall, right Kate?

"Well ..." Kate blushes a little. "If you're sure."

"I can do this, don't worry. Here I go." You reach up to grab the first branch, then turn back to Kate and give her a wink. "No looking up my skirt, okay?"

Blushing intensifies. "Wh-why me?! Shouldn't you be more worried about the boys?!"

Tyler tsks and looks away.

"Hey, I resent that," says Jason. "I'll have you know that when I used to help the cheerleaders practice and I had one hot girl in a skirt after another standing on my shoulders, I never once looked up."

"Never once?" asks Kate, her voice sarcastic with disbelief.

"I mean, you know, sometimes I had to adjust our position, but it wasn't like that ..."

You leave their conversation behind as you begin your ascent of the tree.

"Good luck!" Sam calls out to you from the ground.

The forest is tall, like rainforest tall. It takes you some time to get all the way up there. Fortunately, this tree is built pretty well for climbing. The branches are solid and well-spaced, even though you're a little lacking in the reach department. You imagine you're an explorer, deep in the Amazon. Of course, if you really are on another planet like Tyler says, the Amazon is about as exotic and dangerous by comparison as your own backyard.

You pass by patches of weird-looking moss, clusters of the flowers you saw glowing last night, shadowy crevices in the tree that you try not to imagine holding monstrous owls or fanged squirrels.

This is easy, you tell yourself. It's just like climbing a big ladder. You just have to make absolutely sure not to look down, or think about what might happen if your hand slipped at the wrong moment ... just breathe, Vanessa, breathe ...

Finally emerging at the top, you take a deep breath, feeling the fresh air rush into your lungs. Being this high up is dizzying and exciting. You take a moment just to enjoy the exhilaration of danger and the majestic view of the forest canopy. You see a pair of green dragonmoths, like the one you saw last night, fluttering through the air above the trees.

Okay. Time for business. Arbitarily, you decide the direction you starting looking in will be "north".

Beyond the forest, you can see a jumbled landscape of hills and valleys, stone alternating with pockets of grass and trees. Looming above the hills is a jagged, ice-capped mountain. So the mountain will count as "north" you decide.

Looking to your left, the "west," you see the forest continues on indefinitely. It looks like it changes in parts, becoming more colorful -- you see patches of red, pink, blue and white amongst the green.

To your right, the "east" is an area of lowlands, still covered in the morning mist. You can catch glimpses of water, or at least some kind of liquid forming lakes and ponds. It might be a nice area with water to drink and tasty fish to eat. Or it could be a poisonous marshland.

Swivelling in the tree, you finally look behind you to the south.

Oh. Oh dear.

It looks partly Arizona or Utah, you think to yourself, and partly like those evil lands of darkness you see in the fantasy movies. Mordor, the Spiral Castle, the Forbidden Mountain ... one of those places. Red stone rises in bizarre arches and peaks above valleys of grey ash. Plumes of black smoke drift into the air from vents in the earth. Withered trees of crimson leaves form patchwork groves.

Well, that's some food for thought. Time to share this information with the others. Now all you have to do is get ...

... back down ...

... the tree.

Trying to look down all that way to the ground, you're assaulted by a wave of vertigo. You grip tightly to the tree, screwing your eyes shut. Oh shit. Maybe you bit off a little more than you can chew here by volunteering to climb a tree a hundred feet tall. You just wanted to help everyone ...

Okay. Stay cool, Vanessa, you tell yourself as you carefully reach down with one foot for the branch below you. Stay cool. You can do this. Just put one foot in front of the other ...

You make it about halfway down with your courage still intact, even though your breathing is shallow and your palms are sweating. You've got this, you tell yourself. You're awesome. This is easy.

That's when you realize that an ominous buzzing sound has been getting louder.

You look around for the source of the sound, and you realize it's coming from a crevice in the tree right before the shadows inside explode with motion. A swarm of insects with bright blue abdomens flies out from the tree like an enraged stormcloud.

>Fight them off. (+Strong)
>Keep your cool while hurrying down the tree. (+Cold)
>Let go.

>>1446345
>>Let go.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

>>1446345
>Keep your cool while hurrying down the tree. (+Cold)

>>1446345
>Keep your cool while hurrying down the tree

>>1446345
>>Keep your cool while hurrying down the tree

>>1446351
>>1446352
>>1446372

All right, let's see some rolls.

Your Cold is -1, and because you still have the frightened condition, you get a further -1 to this roll to resist fear. So you're rolling 1d10-2. Good luck.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>1446388
-2

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>1446388

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>1446388
Pray for calmness...

>>1446391
>>1446392
>>1446404
Looks like we're scared shitless by these bugs.

>>1446409
It's only 100 feet, right?
200 feet is super fine, right??
There's nothing bad about being swarmed by super-wasps while plummeting 300 feet, right???

>>1446419
With how shit we rolled I don't thin we are holding onto that tree very long.

Don't panic, you tell yourself as the blue bugs start to swarm around you. You start to hurry down the tree, fighting the swell of fear in your chest. Don't panic. Don't -- panic -- oh shit! Your foot slips, and you grab desperately at the branch, but you can't hold on. The world sways, and your stomach lurches sickeningly, and the ground starts to reach up to you as you plummet--

Oof! You slam into a tree branch. Ouch! You bounce right off and onto another one. Ow! Another bounce, a third tree branch. You knock your head right against that one and black out for a second ...

... hearing your name being called, you struggle out of the depths and back to consciousness. You open your eyes to look into Kate's, wide with concern. "Vanessa?! Are you all right? Can you hear me?"

"I'm fine ... ouch ..." You groan as you try to move. Maybe you're not fine.

>+1 Harm

"Sorry. Some crazy bugs attacked me up there. I didn't want to find out if they have stingers or just wanted to eat me, so I tried to get down fast, but I slipped ... and then ..." You realize you're being held by Kate as she sits on the grass. You must have fallen into her arms and knocked her over. "You caught me!"

Kate lets go and looks away quickly, embarassed. "I mean, it's no big deal. You were trying to help the group and all. I just didn't want you to hurt yourself."

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>(Kiss her on the cheek) My hero!
>Hah hah, you care about me!
>Thanks. I appreciate it.
>I owe you one.

>>1446509
>>I owe you one.

>>1446509
>>Hah hah, you care about me!
>>Thanks. I appreciate it.

>>1446509
>Hah hah, you care about me!
>Thanks. I appreciate it.

"Hah hah, you care about me!" you tease Kate. You put your hand on her shoulder to help yourself up, and give her an extra pat. "Really, though, thanks. I appreciate it. I'd say I owe you one, but I think if I tried to catch you falling, I'd just go squish."

"Is that a crack about my weight?" Kate says, getting to her feet. She smiles and ruffles your hair. "No problem, Vanessa."

"Heyyy," you complain, playfully trying to bat away her hand.

Tyler coughs. "This is very cute, I admit, and while I hate to break it up, we should hear what Vanessa saw up there."

You explain to the others what you saw.

"So," Jason says, thinking it over. "North is hills and valleys. West is more forest. East is lake, or swamp, or something. And south is badlands."

"So we should head east, right?" says Kate. "We need a source of water. I mean, I still think our best chance of getting rescued is to stay here. But if you're all determined to leave, I'm going with you. And I vote east."

"Mmmm ..." Tyler pushes his glasses up. "Swampland water often has mineral deposits and other contaminants. I'd prefer to investigate the hills area. I surmise that, as it probably contains ore, it's the best area to find evidence of any form of civilization that lives, or lived here."

"Why not the lakes, then?" asks Kate. "Wouldn't they want to live by water?"

"Perhaps, but that would most likely be a fishing settlement of some kind. If we're trying to get home, a peaceful village of fishermen wouldn't help us. We need machines. Science. A teleporter, or a rocket, or something."

Jason shakes his head. "You guys are wrong. We should stay in the forest as long as possible. If hostiles come looking for us--"

"Y-you keep talking about "hostiles," says Sam. "Do you r-r-really think that s-s-something's going to come after us?"

"I'm not sure," he admits. "But I don't want to find out the hard way. Anyway, we'll have the best chance of staying hidden in the woods, or if we're caught by something, of losing our pursuers."

"For fuck's sake," sighs Kate. "Can't the three of us agree on anything?"

Jason says, "At least nobody wanted to go to Mordor, right?" He looks at Sam. "What about you? Any thoughts?"

Sam just shakes her head mutely.

Jason shrugs, and looks down at you. "Guess we need you to tiebreak again, Vanessa. What do you think?"

>North, to the hills.
>West, to the forest.
>East, to the lakes.
>South, to the badlands.

>>1446631
>>North, to the hills.
>>West, to the forest.
One of these two.

>>1446631
>>North, to the hills.
Fuck dealing with swamp things.

>>1446631
>>North, to the hills.
>>West, to the forest.
Northwest!

>>1446636
Fuck it, let's go this way.

>Northwest.

>>1446631
>North, to the hills.
Changing my vote to this, but fuck going north west

>>1446636
North still has trees

>>1446653
I'm more concerned with water, but bogs aren't the place to look. However, civilization would also have water... if we can communicate with them to get it... and they don't murder us...

>>1446675
>Snow
There is gonna be runoff and pockets of trees means pockets of water

"Let's go north," you say. "I think you're right not to trust the bog water. The trees up north means there's water up there, so maybe we can find snow runoff. Plus, maybe Tyler is right. If there's machines anywhere around here, they'd have to mine the metal for it, right? So that's probably the most likely place to find civilization. I just hope we can communicate with them ... and they don't murder us ... hah hah ..."

"Maybe they'll be friendly?" suggests Kate.

"If it does turn out there are people here," Jason says, "We can't assume there's going to be a welcome party. Ever read about the colonization times, explorers and stuff? Sometimes they showed up somewhere, and they got a big boatful of food and shiny things from the natives, sure. More often they got spears in the face, or their hearts cut out."

"Regardless of the locals' attitude towards strangers," Tyler says, "They're probably in control of whatever brought us here, or at least would know something about it. They'd definitely know something about where we are. We have to get that information from them, whether they agree to it or not."

Jason snorts. "So you want us to fight aliens, now? By which you actually mean, you want me to fight aliens. Because somehow I don't see you doing it, four-eyes."

Tyler stares balefully at Jason. "I was thinking theft or subterfuge. I suggest you don't underestimate me. I also suggest you stop thinking of everything like a combat mission revolving around you, the heroic soldier. Except you're not a soldier, are you? You're just a cadet, and from what I hear, you couldn't even do that right--"

"The fuck did you say?" demands Jason. "What does a skinny twig like you have to say about it? What do you know about my life? Why don't you come over here and--"

"All right, that's enough!" Kate half-shouts, physically stepping in between the two boys. "Stopping this before it goes any farther. We're stressed out and have enough to deal with already without sniping at each other. The vote's to go north. Everyone get your shit together and get ready to go."

Surly, the two boys turn away from each other to pack their bags. Kate sighs and covers her face with her hands for a moment before going to do the same.

"I don't like shouting," Sam confides to you quietly.

"Unless it's at a concert, me neither," you admit.

Soon the five of you have your bags together. Jason hefts his heavy gym bag loaded up with supplies. Kate has her purse over one shoulder and someone else's backpack on the other. Tyler has the same with his satchel and bag. Sam is carrying her huge backpack stuffed with her things. She refused to leave anything of hers behind, even her dice. Especially her dice.

"All right, then," Jason says. "I think we're all ready. Kate, you ready to use that baseball bat you're holding?"

"Sure am," she says.

"Why don't you take rear guard, then? I'll stay in the front." Jason shows his crowbar. "That way, if anything attacks us from in front or behind, one of us will be ready."

Kate nods. "Got it."

"Then, let's head out," says Jason. He starts off north towards the mountain without another word.

Kate turns and looks at the school. "It feels weird to be leaving this behind. Our one piece of home ..."

Sam waves to it. "Good-bye, ruined pieces of high school. Good-bye, parking lot. Good-bye, sewer pipes ..."

As you set off after Jason, you rub your sore behind. You took quite a fall from that tree. Good thing Kate was there to catch you.

You can still barely comprehend the idea that you're in an actual life-or-death situation. Most of your life has been concerned with art and music, with how many friends you had or how popular you were, with how mad your parents were at you and how long you'd be grounded if you snuck out at night for another show. The biggest stake you've ever risked in your whole life was having your romantic advances spurned, or missing a certain concert where everyone was going to be there.

Now you're dealing with real challenges with serious consequences, like falling from a huge tree. And your relationships with these other four teenagers have become far more important than whether or not they'll talk to you at school. You could soon be relying on these kids for your very life, and they might be relying on you for the same.

This is going to be tough. This definitely won't be the last time you make a bad decision or fuck something up. But it's good to make mistakes, you tell yourself, because that's when you can learn. It's the only way to grow.

You now have your first Trait:

Growing Pains: The first time each thread you fail a roll, gain experience.

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Closing Soundtrack: Disasterpiece -- Vignette: Panacea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfPapxO550o

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That's all for this thread. Partly because here's a good time to wrap up, and partly because the board problems are activating my almonds. Thanks for playing Nightmare Planet.

Follow my Twitter for updates: https://twitter.com/ravenkingquests

Or join my Discord to discuss the quest: https://discord.gg/t7DHUPk

>>1446881
Thanks for running, boss

>>1446881
Cool story. I'm looking forward to the next one!

>>1446832
Why do I get the feeling we're going to be very high level this campaign? ;)