You are Monk, a young Slugcat from the Outer Expanse. You don't understand how, but you've been transported to an alien location full of unfamiliar creatures. At least you have some friends with you.
Taylor Hebert is a new parahuman. Finally home alone after her stay in the hospital she finally has the chance to test her power.
A Rain World/Worm crossover quest where you play as a Slugcat in Brockton Bay. You also happen to be the summon of one Ms. Hebert.
You don't know the how or why, but you're someplace you've never been before. The transition was sudden, and you don't remember the journey. Actually, you don't quite remember what led up to it either. Well, there is no use worrying over that. You have other things to deal with. Like your sibling, Survivor, who seems to be freaking out. They always had a bit of a nervous disposition. You glance around the space you are in for anything to distract them. Something shiny catches your eye. You pick it up and examine it. It is a shiny metal container with bright colors. Perfect. You catch Survivor's attention and sign an offer.
They simply stick out a hand for the object. Rude, but understandable given the tenseness of the situation. You hand it over.
With your older sibling distracted by the Shiny, you take a look around and see that you are in...
[] ...an underground room.
(Taylor's basement. She didn't think she could make it far from the house with how weak she still feels.)
[] ...a structure in decent condition.
(An abandoned warehouse. Taylor didn't feel comfortable trying out her powers at home.)
[] ...a space of rusted metal.
(The Boat Graveyard. Taylor was worried about collateral damage.)
Then, you notice a strange creature. The creature vaguely reminds you of the Iterators you've met, but much taller. They seem frozen, staring at you with wide eyes.
How do you react?
[] Submission
Some creatures react to fear with violence. It is time to be nonthreatening.
[] Communication
This creature wears clothes, like the Iterators do. That means they are very smart, so you should hopefully be able start up some sort of dialogue.
[] Cowardice
Hide behind your sibling. They are bigger and stronger than you, and they have already picked up a good throwing rock.
[] Terror
Run! Grab Survivor's hand and make a hasty retreat. You do not want to be this thing's meal.
Welcome to my quest! I'm pretty new to being a QM, so please be forgiving of my mistakes. Also, please point out any mistakes; I want to improve.
This quest will contain both Worm and Rain World spoilers. I have not read Ward, and it's been a bit since I read Worm. I know Rain World lore top to bottom.
For people not familiar with Rain World (because it is a bit niche): Rain World Wiki for those who want to go more in-depth. You don't need to.
It is an exploration-based survival platformer set in a decaying world where civilization died out centuries or more ago. You play as various Slugcats throughout the timeline. The landscape is the decaying remains of an ancient civilization. All of the flora and fauna have been genetically modified, or evolved from something modified. The last remnants of the ancient civilization are the Iterators, mountain sized biomechanical supercomputers who are slowly dying. Each has a vaguely humanoid puppet that they use to communicate; that is what the Slugcats perceive Iterators to be.
Slugcats are a species of large rodent. They measure around two feet or a bit taller when they are standing up. Decent runners, excellent jumpers and climbers. Omnivorous diet usually, but different subspecies might have some differences. Three digits per limb. Sentient tool users and makers.
In this work I am using my own interpretation of Slugcat language. For quick, basic conversations a form of full body sign language (Slugsign) is used. For more complex communication, tactile signing is used in conjunction with simple vocalizations. Slugcats also have a simple writing system.
Slugcats are the best and I love this concept already. Also, I feel like if Taylor felt they weren't very dangerous she might have tried it in her home. I also want to see if Taylor has an intrinsic understanding of slugsign or if she is going to have to learn from scratch. This also helpfully informs her that she can communicate with us and that we're not hostile and willing to be friends.
[X] ...an underground room.
[X] Bumble. You know what to do if you accidentally stumble into the lair of an iterator, you and your sibling have had practice! (Thanks, Five Pebbles!) Jump around and squirm amusingly, toss around little bits of junk, and be (a nuisance) entertaining!
Also, as a heads up @SquamousHorror , did you know you can categorize votes? If you put a category at the start, it will count each category separately, like a reproduction of my vote below.
[X][Location] ...an underground room.
[X][Response] Communication
Then when setting up vote counts, you set the vote counting style as Task, and it will count each set of votes separately. Like shown:
Below I'll add a count showcasing this, I have to post first then count my vote as an example.
Adhoc vote count started by thewhiteraven22 on Apr 13, 2024 at 2:42 AM, finished with 3 posts and 3 votes.
[X] ...an underground room.
[X] Bumble. You know what to do if you accidentally stumble into the lair of an iterator, you and your sibling have had practice! (Thanks, Five Pebbles!) Jump around and squirm amusingly, toss around little bits of junk, and be (a nuisance) entertaining!
I hope it helps! Looking forward to where this quest goes! I don;t know much (read pretty much anything) about Rain World, aside from a couple crossover quests that died.
[X] Bumble. You know what to do if you accidentally stumble into the lair of an iterator, you and your sibling have had practice! (Thanks, Five Pebbles!) Jump around and squirm amusingly, toss around little bits of junk, and be (a nuisance) entertaining!
The stone walls of the space are unusually clean and smooth. This is even more obvious with the ceiling and floor. There are not any plants growing here either. The space feels dead. There's an elevated exit that has a structure leading up to it; it looks easy to climb. One semi-familiar thing about the space is the clutter piled against the walls. It is all weirdly clean and intact like the rest of the space, only slightly dusty, but some objects look vaguely familiar in shape. There is a metal thing in a corner that is quietly rumbling. It is clearly part of the structure, but you have no insight as to its purpose. The space is lit by a singular source. It is yellow instead of blue, but you recognize the buzzing sound of an electrical source. You are glad that it is hanging well out of the way.
The creature in front of you wears clothes. The only times you've seen that before were old paintings of the ancient people, and the Iterators. You remember your first encounter with Five Pebbles, and how his first action was to give you understanding of his language. The mark on your forehead aches with the memory. You ignore it and push your thoughts to Looks to the Moon. You remember listening to her analyse and opinions of items, and of her reading ancients' pearls for you. What little you know of the ancients is that they were the Iterators' parents, and they all... left. Given these many examples, you come to the conclusion that clothes are a sign of scholarly creatures.
What you also notice is that the being in front of you looks kind of sickly, like they are recovering from some bad injury or sickness. They are using an arm to brace themself against the wall. You don't know if the boniness, pale color, and furless areas are normal for the species, so you can't get any information from that.
With all of this in mind, you decide to communicate with the strange creature.
You make sure that they are paying attention to you, then you tell them that you are peaceful and that they should relax.
They appear confused. But, it pulls them away from their shock.
"I'm actually a parahuman," their voice is soft.
You have no idea what that means, but the conversation has started! Your sibling walks up to them, switching to crawling when they take a shaky step back, and offers them the Shiny. They cautiously take it.
"Oh... kay..." They look at the object, "Is this, uh, a gift?"
Your sibling stands and nods. The being relaxes slightly.
"Okay. Okay, that makes sense. Capes' powers don't hurt them. These, uh, creatures are part of my power. I can do this. Okay."
You still don't get what the being is speaking of. You are a bit worried that your Mark might not be working correctly.
"So, uh, furry, um, things," they pause and then stand straighter, "I am Taylor Hebert, the one who summoned you here. I'm going to be a hero, and as my power, you're going to help me do it!" She pauses, "If, uh, if you want to."
It seems that this Taylor Hebert is the explanation for your presence here. She plans to be a... defender of the innocent? You think that something got lost there for you. Your sibling glances at you and shrugs.
How do you respond?
[] Nod
(Taylor was unsure if her summoned creatures understood her. She is glad that they do and they support her heroic goals.)
[] Shake Head
(Taylor is glad that her creatures understand her, but it would be better if they listened to her. She'll have to figure out how to convince them to listen to her.)
[] Roll Around
You don't understand her. You don't understand any language at all. You are now a silly yeek.
(Taylor thought that the creatures understood her, but this reaction put that idea into question.)
[] Write in?
There is another way to respond...
Taylor: Weak | Confused, Hopeful
Friends:
Survivor: Healthy | Curious, Cautious
Self: Healthy, Hungry
This took longer than I expected. On top of that, I have been busier than I had planned for. But, the update is here!
[X] Nod
--------------------------------
Why hello there, everyone~ I'm new to Sufficient Velocity and Questing in general. Haven't gotten the chance to get into something like this before. I read the Quest guide for newbies, but feel free to correct me if I do something that you don't do, per the Unwritten Rules(heeheehaha, Worm reference).
I *love* the art, by the way, QM. It's so silly and whimsical and cute, just like our slimy buddies in question.
[X] Shake Head
-[X] try to point out that you are not predators, nor strong, so you can't be "protectors of the weak", you survived by being smart and avoiding problems.
-[X] it does not mean you can't help her with other things though
[X] Nod
------------- @Wardemer I'm going to have to argue with you there, even young Slugcats can throw spears of rebar hard enough to stick solidly into steel walls. And that is without accounting for the hyper-active environmental adaptation capabilities responsible for the abilities of Gourmand, Artificer, or Ruffles.
They may be at the lower end of their home food-chain, but they are not weak by any standard.
Yes, but that is the point, they are at the lower end of the foodchain, they survive by stealth and smarts.
They don't fight directly, which for wht they may understand, is what a protector of the weak does.
