T̷h̷e̸ ̵G̶a̴m̸e̵ - A VR Role-play

[Cluckcluck1215]

Name: Sphagnum
Age: Impossible to perceive, but has been vibing in human society for about three decades.
Gender: None. Whatever gave you the notion that they're obligated to confine themselves to an overrated human social construct?
Pronouns: None specified. Whatever others choose to use will work. Most of the time. And, wait, were you even given referral rights?
User ID: 1
Personality:
A true neutral chaotic maniac, yet operates with elegant flourish. Doesn't seem to have the capacity to experience any particularly adverse emotion, in either direction. Extremely confident in its own ability to preserve itself and remain elevated above everything in the process. The egocentrism hasn't yet encountered any limitations.
Can and will instigate discord for amusement. Thrives off of mayhem and gets the biggest kicks out of impediments. Quite intrigued by the fragile, unpredictable mortal psyche and will periodically fixate on someone in an attempt to gain an understanding of their mindset.
Indelicately flirtatious in virtually all mannerisms, but is personally incapable of experiencing attraction. Then factor in that serious narcissus complex.
Contrary to the essence of its being, Sphagum's a stickler for following through with vows. It's dependable- in its own roundabout, anarchic
Also, has this ingrained thing for confiscating mortal children. Gets very possessive of its abductees. Excellent babysitter potential.
Picture/Description:
Probably stands at 7' tall and then some. Has nothing to hide, but people seem most comfortable around clothed beings, and so compromise was made. Always wearing its tattered sash; otherwise likes to frequent loose-fitting jackets and slacks. Skin has the appearance of an epidote formation, and feels sparsely graveled to the touch, but it's entirely flexible. A set of living antlers branches out from the fractured bark frill on the backside of its head. Slanted, reptilian eyes. A luminous yellow essence emits from eyes and mouth when open. Hardly prominent snout over a mouthful of elongated black teeth. Tufts of leaves where ears should be- unclear whether that's an actual auditory system or not. Two freelance root systems; those descending from the neck are generally useless. Digitigrade legs that end in cracked stone hooves. Crazy long fingers and thiccccccc arms.
View attachment 2548079
Username: HeavensHens88
Other (weaknesses, habits, or special abilities):
A Spriggan- powerful nature spirit out of Cornish legend that takes form from organic matter. This one was perfectly average until the lure of the human rat race got to it. When Sphagnum willed itself to disconnect from its original environment, it began to function pretty much as a mortal, except it still sources its nutrition from the soils it roots into.
Which might just prove an issue in a virtual reality- SPONTANEOUS DIGESTIVE SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT TIME???
Fire is a definite weakness. The herbaceous parts are just as vulnerable to pests and blights as normal plants. Since Sphagnum literally anchors down into the ground wherever it goes, movement at a fast clip isn't attainable.
A multifaceted mimic, think camouflage- doesn't exactly conform to the environment, but has the ability to morph to a believable biotic fixture within it. This extends to absorbing and adopting the voice of whoever last spoke. It's a flawless mimicry that typically makes conversation extremely uncomfortable for the owner of the voice being utilized.
Sphagnum possesses and regularly wields the inhuman -how punny of me- strength typical to spriggans.
Yes, I am fully aware that writing a genderless cryptid without set pronouns is going to be borderline impossible.
Inconvenience is the point.

pls i just want to be sphagnum nothing else why

 

[TamingMaster]

He'd been shivering for a few minutes, but Damir had only just bothered to open his eyes. When he finally came to his senses, he found himself on a smooth, tiled floor, surrounded by old furniture that had started to ripple. Including a musty, torn mattress, atop a dented metal bed frame.

The room he had been asleep in was dark, but not pitch black, as there was a dim desk light tucked into the corner, and some yellowed light poured in from the hallway, through the broken door. That allowed just enough light to reflect off a majority of the surfaces, illuminating the room.

The corners of the dingy, little room were covered in spider's webs which, in turn, were covered in dust and debris, undoubtedly from the room's previous occupant. The way the light trinkled off them was about the only pretty thing in the room.

The smell of the room was much worse than just the sight alone; damp, moldy, and a lingering stench of something slowly rotting away in one of the many other abandoned rooms. Fire, or maybe just faulty electrics, left every breath with a brash aftertaste.

Damir pulled his shirt up, over his nose, pinching it tightly at the bridge, trying to reduce the smell, or at least calm his urge to retch every five seconds. But, it didn't seem to filter it at all.

He slowly got to his feet, wobbling a little as he stood, the homemade metal prosthetic twisting back into a more comfortable position. It made a soft click as it outstretched. That was a normal daily occurrence with his metal leg, but somehow it felt different today. He shrugged it off as him being too paranoid. After all, he had bigger issues to deal with.

He made his way over the the broken door, lifting it off to the side, making the gap large enough for him to slip out into the hallway. The lights flickered, the old bulbs worn and poorly wired, their cables dangling from the ceiling.

He made his way left, down the hall, not daring to open any of the doors along the way, for fear of unleashing a worse smell. Eventually he came to a dead end, brightly lit with a fluorescent lamp that stung his eyes, hung from the ceiling. It pointed straight down to a rough, but well-kept, chair. On the chair sat a satchel and, placed to the side of it, a small, rectangular tin. No weapon, just a tin.

Although apprehensive, he gladly took hold of the bag, and eventually the tin. He wasn't really curious as to what was in the bag, as the slosh of liquid and the crumple of a food wrapper could be heard well enough in the deafening silence. He was, however, interested in the contents of the tin...

He carefully opened it under the light and began to inspect the contents: a double ended screwdriver, an adjustable wrench, some bolts, spare parts, a tape for measuring, and some other things that might come in handy at some point.
They weren't very high quality, and they were smaller than your conventional tools, but he was happy to have something useful on-hand.

After the lid was closed, and taped shut with the cheap electrical tape it had been wrapped in previously, he tucked it safely into his trouser pocket. He put the bag loosely across his chest, and turned around to head in the opposite direction, hopefully to find some kind of exit.

Unknown to him, by taking the bag - and the scroll inside - from the chair, Damir had started some kind of quest, an escape trial. The goal was simple: Get out, before they get you.

The howls of screaming men and women suddenly started to grow louder and louder, filling the previously empty space. The shrieking almost becoming loud enough to shatter the windows.
Damir reached up, cupping both his ears with his palms. He crouched down, shaking from the sheer shock of it all.

Apparitions started whizzing through the walls, down through the ceiling, and up through the ground. Lights flickered rapidly. Doors started opening wide, only to slam shut seconds later.

Damir, fighting through his fear, started running, weaving between ghosts and ghouls. He bounded down a broken staircase, each other footstep punching through the weakened wood below, until he clattered down to the very bottom. By the end, he was covered in scrapes, scratches, and splinters.
There was very little time to rest, as he wasn't in the clear yet. He had to find an exit, and fast.

His eyes frantically searched the ground floor for some sign of an exit, or at least a window to crawl through. There must be some way out. He thought, going in whatever direction his legs seemed to take him, until he hit a pair of glowing doors.
A glance back showed multiple spirits floating towards him, he turned back to the door and decided to take a chance. Between ghosts and glowing doors, he'd much rather the doors.

He leapt through, the screaming fading behind him as the doors settled shut. The sun crashed down on his skin.He was outside, and he was safe.


(Hopefully that's the right idea for quests? XD)

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

.....
Quiet...?

Sunlight danced across the moorland, casting long shadows from the few looming tree. Wind whistled softly through the dead grass, prancing over to a sleeping form and tickling their face. The creature did not move until several moments later, a crow's raucous screaming startling him.

They sat up abruptly, grass crunching beneath his hands as he leaned back against them. Xe shook his head, a small stick and grass falling free of xyr antlers and landing in his lap. What the hell..?

It was both painfully loud and quiet at the same moment. The wind had stopped, like it had just been dropped from a height and fell still. The crows were silent now. But xyr heartbeat was like thunder in their ears, and their breath was far too loud.
It was too silent. Too calm.

...
It was a hard calm.
Like the chaos couldn't be stopped.
...

Theodore slowly stood, vision plagued by blurriness, until his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the moorland.
He would take it for a dream. Surely, it must be. There was a thin tear in the reality of it all, in the way that the birds nearly glitched in the sky, in the way that he was completely full when they knew they had gone to bed hungry the previous night.
...but if it was a dream, why could xe feel the dampness of the ground on xyr clothes? Why could they feel a persistent ache in their neck from sleeping wrong?
None of it made sense.

A bag lay abandoned at his feet. Since when has that been there?
They were sure it wasn't a few moments ago.
Theo picked it up, flipping the pack open and staring into the contents inside. A bottle with what appeared to be water. A package that was marked clearly as food. And a small tin, that he immediately dropped back into the bag upon smelling it.
Xe swung the pack over xyr shoulder, and just as they were about to inspect their surroundings, a glinting object in the grass caught his eye.

A dagger.
He lifted it, the silver blade glinting in the sunlight. The hilt was golden, black engravings weaving intricately along it.
His face twisted in confusion, lithe fingers tracing the blade. Their gaze lifted from it, fluttering along the landscape and towards the top of the looming hill and forest beyond them.
This is an absurd dream.

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

Ick.. it's hot again.

Saturn rolled over, scrambling for her glasses. The moment her hand collided with hot sand was the moment she realized something was horribly amiss.
She bolted upright, her blurry vision just barely taking in where she was. Shoving glasses onto her face haphazardly, she got to her feet, staring around her.

The sun was beating down on her, waves lapping at her feet. The beach surrounding her was wide open, not a single soul in sight. Scowling, she caught sight of a bag and was appeared to be a spear at her feet.
She knelt, opening the pack carefully. Food, water, and a strange smelling tin.
Weird... never had a survival dream before. Or a vivid dream..

Picking up the spear and pack, she stood and strapped the bag across her chest, examining the spear. It was simplistic, nothing special. A handle made of wood, and a sharp, glinting blade.

So, as one does, she barely questioned her surroundings, painfully unaware of the danger she was in, and started heading up the beach.

 

[Amer]

Ick.. it's hot again.

Saturn rolled over, scrambling for her glasses. The moment her hand collided with hot sand was the moment she realized something was horribly amiss.
She bolted upright, her blurry vision just barely taking in where she was. Shoving glasses onto her face haphazardly, she got to her feet, staring around her.

The sun was beating down on her, waves lapping at her feet. The beach surrounding her was wide open, not a single soul in sight. Scowling, she caught sight of a bag and was appeared to be a spear at her feet.
She knelt, opening the pack carefully. Food, water, and a strange smelling tin.
Weird... never had a survival dream before. Or a vivid dream..

Picking up the spear and pack, she stood and strapped the bag across her chest, examining the spear. It was simplistic, nothing special. A handle made of wood, and a sharp, glinting blade.

So, as one does, she barely questioned her surroundings, painfully unaware of the danger she was in, and started heading up the beach.

Hewitt grumbled and picked his way over the sand, shoving his cane into it with every step. Sand didn’t exhaust him like it would for most people, but it did slow him down, and this was “mighty frustrating” for him.
As he made his way along the shore, occasionally glancing at the beautiful teal waters with grim satisfaction.
Most of the time, however, his eyes were occupied with his search for a large, red carapace.
A spot of red crested a hill beside him. Could it be? No, it’s just hair. Followed by a bespectacled girl. Even better.
“‘Ey! What’re you doing ‘ere, kid?”

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

Hewitt grumbled and picked his way over the sand, shoving his cane into it with every step. Sand didn’t exhaust him like it would for most people, but it did slow him down, and this was “mighty frustrating” for him.
As he made his way along the shore, occasionally glancing at the beautiful teal waters with grim satisfaction.
Most of the time, however, his eyes were occupied with his search for a large, red carapace.
A spot of red crested a hill beside him. Could it be? No, it’s just hair. Followed by a bespectacled girl. Even better.
“‘Ey! What’re you doing ‘ere, kid?”

By the time Saturn had gotten across the beach and halfway up the hill, she was throughly exhausted. Her calves were on fire, and she was sweating to death.
And she was certain this wasn't a dream at this point.
Startled by a sudden gruff voice, she whipped the spear in the direction of the sound, coming face to face with an elderly man. She didn't set her spear down, though, eyeing him warily.
"Could ask the same about you," she muttered, trying to steady her breathing. "I'm... I'm just hiking, that's all."

 

[Yowza Wowza]

After Tem took some time to collect themself, they reopened their eyes and let their body relax. Upon view of the disfigured food bar in their palms, they gave a disheartened mutter and drew back their claws. Raising the foodstuff to their nose, now that it was unintentionally opened, was curious of what exactly was in this ‘Food Bar’. The scent was reminiscent of their fathers protein bars that they most definitely didn’t sneak for themselves once in a while.

While the scent was most tempting, there were other creatures that found Tem far more enticing.

Disrupting the peaceful and casual grace of the meadow was a pair of wild, savage jackals that were making a straight cut towards the innocent cat child.

Tem’s ears started to flicker, clearly hearing something malicious was rapidly making a descent on them. Without haste, they yeeted the food bar back into the bag, tossed the bag around their chest, and popped the butterfly knife in between their teeth.

Run was what their instincts told them, and that’s what they did as they bounded off on all fours. The constant and death defying howls from the jackals rang in Tem’s ears, further fueling their adrenaline as if they didn’t have enough already.

No way am I gonna be some stupid animals lunch.

No way.

With their unceasing speed across the meadow, something strange within the environment started to occur. Trees started to fade in, filling in the emptiness of what was supposed to be a limitless green landscape. Only from there did the vegetation grow more extensive, varieties of redwood, firs, and pine trees surrounded them completely. Tem was able to maneuver and wind through these new obstacles with ease, sliding underneath or jumping over fallen trees with a cats grace and even go so far as take sharp turns in order to lose the jackals.

Don’t look back, don’t look back, don’t look back.

Tem snapped their gaze back, which would prove to be an instant regret as the jackals emerged from the brush, taking a faster and quicker route to keep up with their prey. The jackals chops were flowing with froth, panting and letting out yowls as they started to close the space between Tem.

Crap I looked back.

Redirecting their gaze to what was ahead of them, Tem continued moving forward, feeling their muscles begin to burn and ache from all the exertion. Setting their sights on the nearest tree, Tem spun and lunged up the trunk to the safest branch that was out of reach of the jackals. As they clambered and securely set themself down to rest, their flip flop slid off and fell into the jaws of one of the jackals, which they happily tore to shreds.

Pocketing the knife that had built up quite a bit of slobber from being in between their teeth, Tem wiped their mouth and gave the jackals an earful. “Hey screw you guys! My flip flops were a gift!” Tem shouted down at the pair angrily and proceeded to give them each a bird. The jackals shared a look, and began leaping at the base of the tree, yowling and barking at Tem.

As Tem caught their breath, they couldn’t help but watch the jackals in amusement. Their lip curled into a mischievous smile, “You dog brains can jump and cry all you want, but both of you ain’t getting a piece of this!” they hollered mockingly, “So I’d get lost if I were you two. Go find a stupid squirrel or something.”

But the jackals did not cease their attempts to climb the tree, strictly determined to bring down the prey they chased all this way.

(@RiverStorm if ya wanna interact, they should be in the same forest as Aros)

 

[Amer]

By the time Saturn had gotten across the beach and halfway up the hill, she was throughly exhausted. Her calves were on fire, and she was sweating to death.
And she was certain this wasn't a dream at this point.
Startled by a sudden gruff voice, she whipped the spear in the direction of the sound, coming face to face with an elderly man. She didn't set her spear down, though, eyeing him warily.
"Could ask the same about you," she muttered, trying to steady her breathing. "I'm... I'm just hiking, that's all."

“Well of course you are! It builds character,” Hewitt said. He had a gruff, British accent. “Still, this can be a dangerous place to hike in. Don’t you know about the beach bugs?” He snatched her spear out of her hands with surprising strength and looked it over. “I suppose a foolish kid like you wouldn’t know how to use a weapon like this.”

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

Lyra walked actually it was a cross between a walk and a skip, she hummed a tune to herself, it hadn’t even occurred to her that there might be dangerous animals or people lurking in this god forsaken rainforest which never appeared to end. Suddenly just as she came to the top of a slope her foot slipped on one of the wet rocks and she plummeted screaming and kicking the whole way she attempted to grab hold of something but the vine she had wrapped her hand around broke, she fell in a heap at the bottom. “Uh, that was painful” was all she said, then she looked down and saw she was sitting on her tiny knife “oh that’s why.” She got up and looked around, the rainforest appeared to be thinning out here, it was going into a forest now, a plain old forest. Lyra pocketed the knife and set off towards the forest unaware of the Monster lurking in the shadows stalking her.

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

What the hell?

Immediately upon awakening, water dripped directly into Xavier's eyes. It sat up, cursing and wiping their eyes, hands coming away coated in a thin layer of dark makeup.
And... a number?
In what appeared to be dark marker was the numbers 35, directly in the center of it's right palm.

What was probably more concerning, though, was their surroundings.
They were sitting beneath a massive tree, the uppermost branches a hundred or so feet above them. Looming plants, soaked with last nights rain, surrounded them.

Why am I not home?

Keeping silent, it stood, lifting the bag at its side with it. It briefly inspected the bags contents, but they had little interest in them, strapping the bag across its chest. Instead, it was far more interested in the bow and quiver of arrows.

Carefully, they lifted it, taking care in case it was fragile. But it wasn't, it was study and appeared brand new.
Or... at least as brand new as an old fashion bow could be.
It looked like one straight from Brave, long and curved. It ran it's fingers along the bow, feeling the curves and engravements in it.

They had not a clue how to use a bow, never once even picking one up, but it couldn't be that hard... right? At least they had something to protect themself...
Hooking the quiver over their should, it kept the bow in their hand, and faced the forest.

Inhaling deeply, and pushing down the fear in its gut, it slipped into the forest.
Into the absolute unknown.