Prompt 1
In a village in the middle of an eerie forest, you need shelter. There are many empty houses speckled across a central village, each with its own customizable features. The houses are always made of wood and field stone. They lack all modern commodities, however there is crude indoor plumbing. There are thick glass windows, misty and difficult to see through, and thick wooden doors that are heavy and difficult to move--however all of them have barricades on the inside to keep intruders out. Most houses have several rooms and some even have multiple floors, but there is something aged and almost crumbling about each of them. They are safer than nothing, but they are cold and uninviting. You need to claim one of these homes for yourself, but with so many unknowns, it's probably best to find a group to stick with and have your back. Do you try to take on this oddity in a house, alone? Or do you manage to find people to get along with and share a house with?


Alexandria Anne Abson was not a woman prone to panicking. She was starting to get used to the weird s**t that came with being a knight, that came with her little wooden spoon, but this? This was just...weird. Like something out of a supernatural thriller or a Lovecraftian tale. Maybe a real life Darkest Dungeon? She made her way through the town cautiously, alert to every noise, every movement. And she observed each house carefully. Each one seemed more rickety than the last until she finally found a nice, sturdy-looking-ish one, rolled up the sleeves of her turtleneck, and made her way to it.

Carefully, of course. She had no idea what was inside.

NovaCracker
Yolie was boiling the water for the day and Cherish had long since gone to the community garden for the week's vegetables, but the man of nearly 40 was willing to pitch in, and so he'd grabbed a hand axe from by the front door and set himself to going out to collect wood. The physicist opened the front door with gusto, axe over his shoulder and a calm look when he nearly barreled into a newcomer, and started, blinking several moments.

He was visibly startled out of his mild grump (how was that blonde girl boiling water so sweet to his salt? HE DIDN'T GET IT) by the woman, and froze, only a second, before staring and sighing.

"Well I suppose you're new and in need of a decent house, aren't you?" He drawled with as much calm as he could.

"They can stay here, just grab extra firewood." Yolie called, and Lawrence motioned.

"We have someone used to surviving, ma'am, if you need someplace to stay."


"I had someplace last night, but...something was wrong. More so than it all already is." The man had startled her, set the large woman on edge, but she was starting to calm, taking a deep breath in her large frame. "I'm no stranger to less modern survival myself, but I would not mind joining another group. This place is..." Alex shuddered. "Way too strange. I'm glad my kids didn't get all wrapped up in this." She offered the man her hand. "Alex. And you?"

NovaCracker
"Ah, you're lucky. My daughter did, but we seem to have room for one more. Lawrence." He slowly took her hand and shook it briskly, before humming. "I doubt the girls would mind. Our 'survivalist' sort is my daughter's age group. I was about to go collect firewood. As for where things stand... We think there's something unusual out there." Lawrence lowered his axe and sighed. "You don't want to be outside at night. It's. A decidedly unpleasant locale. There's also been nothing to hunt for meat -- you're warned."


"I'm not a hunter anyways." He had a good grip, and Alex seemed okay enough with him. "But I'm decent enough at survival cooking and can hold my own in a fight. If needed." She shuddered. "Hopefully a fight won't be needed, however." She pulled her hand back. "For now, I'm happy to help you bring back firewood."

NovaCracker
"Well, we've heard things in the woods at night." Lawrence admitted, and sighed/ "I think Miss Yolanda's an idea of hunting but she's found little. There's a veggie garden here and communally, but for much else...prepackaged we think bunker food." it was bad humor at best and Lawrence motioned back. "I do warn, you might feel strange eating as well. We've taken the worst out by boiling the water."


"Most abandoned places are such for a reason." She sighed. "Could be we've stumbled on someplace that just...did not chose a good place to build. Bad soil affects crops and water, and bad water affects crops and soil. So either way, makes sense that not all the I'll effects are gone, but the majority are." She gave him a small smile. "Lead the way?"

NovaCracker
"I feel I should lead you to the toilet first.." Lawrence warned, but he was relieved to know this woman could supplement Yolanda's. The man beckoned, and walked first for the outhouse, motioning to it carefully.

"The plumbing in the house only seems enough for a trickle and there's bust pipes, so whomever was here last dug, well... That. But from here we should visit the forest. Are you familiar with traditional Dutch ovens?" He asked then.


An outhouse. Alex could deal with that. She'd used enough portapotties in her life. "I'll just have to check for uninvited guests before I relieve myself." She looked to the man and nodded. "Yup! They're a lot of fun to use! Plenty of options for what you can make in them!" She kept pace with him, still alert. Especially now that she knew there was something out there.

NovaCracker
"Well you might know more than Yolanda, then." Lawrence chuckled brusquely. "I must admit, she tries but her skills lie in surviving on the hunt. I'm not sure she's as adept long-term. She.. Tries." Finally he relaxed. "All three of us are. I can show you the gardens. We've avoided the berries growing around here."


"A smart idea, especially if you can't identify them!" She crossed her arms. "Let's get that firewood first, then you can show me the gardens. I'm part of the SCA, and am a big proponent of self-sustainability, so I know a lot about more primitive methods of cooking! Dying and other such things as well. Sadly, I can't weave my own cloth, or shear a sheep, but I can even clean, card, and spin wool."

NovaCracker
"No herd animals. Just old, abandoned gardens." Lawrence walked for the edges of the woods, looking about.

"Might I ask what the SCA is?" Was it science? He liked science!


"A shame, but no surprise. If there were any, they likely got out long ago." She followed, keeping close. "The Society for Creative Anachronism. We recreate the best of the medieval times. Chivalry, arts, history, clothing. It's a great deal of fun to step out of mundane life and into what was for a time!"

NovaCracker
"Any science there?" Lawrence asked. Shamelessly. He sized up a tree, before looking over. "Does this look good?"


Alex couldn't help but laugh. "Perhaps, if you like looking at how the sciences were viewed by various cultures during that time period! The Islamic nations viewed it more favorably, so you know." She looked the tree up and down, humming thoughtfully. "Certainly looks rather dead. Less chance of green wood and the smoke that makes."

NovaCracker
"Well, if you can carry logs from it once we split it." Lawrence motioned, then sighed.

"Of course most people don't understand. So few understand how beautiful science is... Or physics." He sighed a bit sadly, then focused, settling in to begin work. Best not dwell.