The Field

Who: Ash and Rae
Where: Just inside the treeline
When: Early morning

Ash rolled over in his sleep, hugging his pillow to him as he curled around it, shivering slightly. It was cold, too cold for him to keep sleeping, but too early to wake. Another five minutes, he told himself, but then the light was seeping through his eyelids, pulling him to wakefulness. He rolled over again, hand flopping back into the sand beneath him. Sand? His fingers curled into the sand, the top starting to warm from the sunlight, but cool beneath. There shouldn’t have been sand in his bed.

He squinted as the sun brightened, rising higher in the sky, preventing another second of sleep. It was time to wake, but when he sat up he wondered where he was, as this was certainly not his bed. Was he dreaming? Ash rarely had lucid dreams, but maybe this was the first. He rubbed a palm over his eyes as his hair fell in his face, still groggy from a restless night. It was the first time he ever recalled feeling tired in his dreams, but who said he couldn’t? In dreams, anything was possible.

With no pressure to get up and moving, he sat there a minute longer, and then the ground beneath him shifted. Ash quickly shuffled backwards, unsettled by the movement, and then even more so when it continued. He jumped to his feet, grabbing the pillow from the ground before he took off, beginning to run. At first his steps were aimless, but then he spotted a speck of green in the distance. There, that’s where he needed to go. Dreams were fairly straightforward like that, giving him only one good option-- he certainly wasn’t going to head towards more endless sand. As soon as he stepped foot within the oasis, Ash climbed upon a rock, watching the expanse of sand he’d covered in the last few seconds. It continued to shift before it stilled. His heart continued to pound. This might be a dream, but that felt real. The fear was real, and he wasn’t going to wait around to see what was waiting for him beneath the sand. He headed into the woods, weary of what laid before him in this strange new world.

( Read more... )

( Time Update )

Who: Kurt and Bethany
When: around dusk
Where: the path around the woods

A ripple that was more than a ripple rolled through the mattress underneath Kurt. Only it wasn't his mattress, because he sank into it a little. A convulsive frown crossed his sleeping face, and he shifted his weight, only to sink in a little more. That wasn't right. A second later, the small itching sensation started on the skin of his legs and arms. It brought him around a bit more. He was brought around rather violently when something brushed up against his calf that didn't feel anything like the German shepherd he shared a house with.

Kurt sat bolt upright, blue eyes popping open. What. The. Bloody. Assfuck. He stared wildly around at the sand dunes he was surrounded by, feeling the wind ruffle his hair. It looked to be around dawn or dusk. He glanced down at himself ... everything seemed to be whole and uninjured, and his pillow and blanket were with him.

( Come on, let's get you hydrated. )

Who: Bethany
Where: The edge of the oasis
When: Late morning tp dusk

She’d woken slowly, luxuriating in the rare beauty of waking up before her alarm clock. With her head under the thick cover of her comforter, it hadn’t even registered to the heavy sleeper that the sun was out. More than anything, it was the warmth that brought her around. Had Brad cranked the heat up?

She flipped back the covers from her face and, instead of the tastefully mint-and-chocolate decor of their master suite, there was dazzling white light. Squinting, disoriented, Bethany sat up. It was then that she realized that she was not tucked up in her king-sized memory foam bed, but rather stuck in a contour of her own body in fine sand.

She stood and brushed herself off. The more that sleep cleared from her vision, the more that she became aware of her heart pounding in her throat. She didn’t know where she was! Someone had kidnapped her!

( Why Do We Always Think The Worst? )

Who: Andy and Rae
Where: The edge of the Oasis treeline
When: Shortly after dawn
What: Arriving

Andy rolled over and got a mouth and nose full of fine, cool sand. Sputtering and choking, he shoved himself up away from the unfamiliar...earth? Where was his bed? He groggily looked left and right. This was not his bedroom.

Wiping at the sand that had stuck to the drool track on his cheek, Andy Clark tried to get his brain to wake up enough to understand. Sand. Sand everywhere. He seemed to be in a sort of...sand bowl. It was dark, and cold. His teeth chattered as he pulled his blanket back around his shoulders.

“What the Hell, guys...” he said, petulantly. It had to be a joke, right? There had to be college friends or colleagues from the office lurking just over that dune, right? Right?! “Guys?!”

He pulled his long chicken legs in, his bony knees drawing to his chest. Was he imagining that he felt a vibration. A clod of sand poured away from the dune directly across from him. Andy’s eyes widened as a sound - sheeeeeeshhhhhhshhhhhh - seemed to fill the bowl of sand he found himself in. There was something...in the sand, moving.

( Sand Monsters, Deadly Monkeys and Flesh Eating Fish! )

Welcome back to The Field!

On September 4th, 2009, we closed the book on the First Tribe. I was entering college and didn’t have the time to dedicate to the game. As it was, mod involvement was very hands-on, with a weekly weather update that included storyline info. It was hard work!

But I’m not here to complain. That was then and this is now. I am about to graduate and my hours are going to normalize. I’m starting to feel the spark and passion I have for writing smouldering somewhere in the back of my mind. I’ve always felt that The Field never quite reached its full potential.

The First Tribe was wonderful, and all of the old players are welcome to reapply. We won’t be playing old characters at this time. There is nothing to say that they aren’t alive and thriving somewhere in “Wonderland,” this continent is vast. There are plenty of placed that can sustain a community. We’ll think of them happy, successful and growing in number, somewhere far away. For now.

There are some major and minor changes this time around. The first is the starting setting. For the sake of recognition I kept the name The Field, even though the “Arrivals” are not appearing in that misty square field in the Climber Forest. The Oasis, mentioned by the adventurous players First Tribe who traveled south for days, is the new starting point.

The Oasis presents its own dangers, which you will all discover in time. It is a new world full of flora and fauna to discover. There is also the Pond Village in the center of the Oasis. Carving a living out of the world is a lot easier when you have a place to start. Food is plentiful here. The weather is hot, sunny by day, and cool at night.

The reason for removing a lot of the risk and hardship was to encourage more focus on character development and personal plots. I intend to scale back my intense involvement. I am creating characters that are not fit to lead anyone, anywhere. It will be up to you to organize, argue; do battle over the leadership of the Second Tribe.

There have been some housekeeping changes. The first and most important is time. We all play in games with carefully monitored time segments, updated by the mods at set intervals. That’s how we did it the first time around here. You may recall the “one real week equals one game day” plan. It worked for some and drove others crazy. In the nearly 9 months that The Field was open, we barely progressed through a month of game play. This is fine, but it doesn’t give the sense that the characters progressed anywhere.

I would like to see us feel more accomplishment this time; therefore, I have decided the game will play in “real time.” What I mean by this is that if you don’t post anything from your character for a week and a half, that’s cool. They will be camp background noise. It also means you can progress your plots on a daily basis if you want to. There is no waiting for an update from me. Get down with your bad selves and write as much or as little as you like.

Be aware, though, that you still promise to update each character at least once a month. I will be checking for activity, so if something comes up, let me know.

Character limits! Don’t I know that we’re all a slave to the crack? Well, with a nod to that, I have increased the character limit from 3 to 4! Isn’t that exciting?! Haha, I can hear your millions of multiple personalities groaning. Choose your characters wisely. Space them out and introduce people to fill the needs of the Tribe as they crop up. Think about conflict and growth. In addition, keep an eye on the Wanted characters page. I will update it as I see the need, and as people post comments on it.

Another important development is journal economy! Instead of making a journal for each character, you will make one game journal and control all of your characters from there.

The Bestiary and Local Botany pages are empty. Even if some of the same flora and fauna exist, your characters don’t know what they are called or used for! It’s back to the drawing board, kids. One of the great features of the setting is that you, the players, fill it with your experiences. As always, you can comment with write-ups that you’d like to see added to the pages.

Lastly, I intend to hold quarterly awards, the first of which will be held on either June 21st or September 21st, depending on the amount of writing we have to draw from. The players will nominate and vote and the winners will be presented with banners featuring their characters, names, scene title. There is a place on the mod journal to display all of the awards, but you are welcome to store them in your character journal as well! Everyone likes to feel appreciated.

This letter was important for me to write because I want you to know that I never gave up on the potential of the players, or this setting. Life intervened, and I count myself fortunate that life has made it possible for me to give this another shot.

So welcome back to Wonderland. Hold on to your blankets, here we go again.

Join us for a new set of adventures in a new portion of the alien world of The Field. The Second Tribe is now gathering at a mysterious oasis...

Today the sprinkles of rain stretch out into short drenchings. The clouds that cover the sky in uniform dove gray from horizon to horizon occassionally open up on the camp and the island. A large flock of those strange geese have touched down and, despite the rain, are honking happily out on the lake and dining on the seaweed that floats just below the surface. The wind is low and the humidity is high. It's a little bit cooler than it has been lately and plenty of people are bundling up with wool socks or shawls or ponchos made by Helena. They don't keep the rain off but they do help a little.

Nefertiti draws a crowd when she rides a great big male grazer right into camp at mid-day. Barebacked and using nothing but her knees and a leather rein made from some of Bazzer's earliest skins. The strong young animal withstands the excitement of the tribe gathering around him to take turns congratulating her on her success. Nefertiti confesses that the training of the grazer has been rewarding and expects to convert his entire family herd into useful members of their little society. She offers to ride out with the men hauling lumber back to test the bull-grazer (whom she named Dawbo) in his ability to pull heavy loads. Good news for such a rainy day!

Who: Analiese and Ryan
When: mid-day
Where: near the campfire

( where'd you get this? )

Who: Adnan
When: early afternoon
Where: by the wood pile
Rating: PG-13ish for violent memories

Today was a day to throw himself into work. After talking with Coop, and telling her everything he had about his past ... it stayed stirred up. Adnan hadn't broken down, per se, but he'd been on the edge of it all evening and night and then again in the morning. It was a yawning pain in his chest, a hole that he was sure everyone was feeling in varying degrees. But his was laced with fire, and the memory of the stench of burning bodies was strong. So he'd gotten up early and set to work immediately, shaping the tree-trunks they had collected, lopping off branches and chopping some of them in half. Keeping a mental tally of what he needed in what size filled his head with enough noise to keep the memories at bay.

( Even ourselves. )

Who: Kenneth and Open
Where: Near camp
When: Late morning
Rating: PG

Kenneth had checked in on Bazzer while he'd been sleeping, but other than that Kenneth had simply stayed away from the others by mostly patrolling the perimeter of the camp. He didn't know what to make of his afternoon with Bazzer. Kenneth had thought it had gone well, he'd been really enjoying being intimate with the other man...until things had suddenly gone south. It had left a bad taste in his mouth and that was distressing. He wanted to be with Bazzer. There was something about the boy that attracted him and he ws easy to be with...most of the time.

Sighing softly, he heard someone approaching and ducked into the bushes. As he sattled in to wait them to pass, he felt some hard plastic under his hand. Turning, he looked and saw a bit of shiny black plastic. Quietly, he dug them out then smiled at the pair of sunglasses. "Hm." Slowly, he stood up and headed for the lake to wash the Ray Ban's off.

Who: Jasper and OPEN
Where: Wandering (very slowly) around the beach
When: Morning
Rating: TBD

Jasper, extremely glad that the pink pollen was gone and, in fact, embracing the general wetness of the weather that day, was limping slowly along the beach, trying to get used to the feeling of walking again.  Because with walking came running, and running was, of course, what she loved to do.  Her little tiff with Alex had been embarrassing but fruitful - if it weren't for that, she wouldn't have bothered even trying to walk.  As it was, the angry stomping hurt but it did give her the realization that she could walk... or, rather, limp... around on her own again.

She picked a few blades of grass and tossed them into the water just to see which way they went - though they didn't go in any particular direction, and kind of scattered, like you'd usually see in a lake.  That kind of annoyed her.  And she wanted to see that big eastern river that was on the map.  And she suspected, only a little bit, that one of those indecipherable squiggles on there meant a camp site - maybe even other people!  That would be exciting.  And extremely useful. 

Hm.  Maybe she should invest some time in making some rain gear, actually.  Jasper eyed the sky irritably.  If it was fall, there was going to be worse weather to come.

The weather on the island continues to be cooler than it's been for the past few days, and during the night, a chilly breeze and a gentle downpour carry away the last of the pollen that had remained. Day thirty-four dawns with intermittently cloudy skies and sunshine. It seems to be an appropriate time for everyone to get back to work on their tasks, both assigned and volunteer, as well as to (hopefully) handle any remaining fallout from the rampantly blooming bushes.

Today is also another day when a multitude of items can be found all over the island and the surrounding area. It seems that the island takes away, and it also gives back!

( mod notes: please read )

Who: Kestrel and Alex
Where: Far Side of the Island
When: Early Afternoon
Rating: G

( Indroducing... )

Who: Cross and Helena
When: Late afternoon
Where: A part of the beach where lots of lake seaweed grows
What: They make a discovery while preparing a clam bake.
Status: Incomplete

Helena had a high fire stoked on the beach and a wide basin of clams already standing by for the hot stones and the clam bake. She was tired of grazer for the time being and had decided to quit being lazy and see about doing something useful with the day. She wasn't entirely sure where her honey had run off to, as she was still dreamily thinking of him since the day before. She amused herself as she worked by thoughts that he was avoiding her so that he wouldn't have to perform any more. Or that he felt guilty about the lack of work getting done the past few days.

( what is it? )

Who: Ryan and Delilah
When: late morning
Where: the spring

Delilah ... had no idea how to feel. She'd woken up pleasantly sore and entangled in Thorne's limbs. It wasn't as though she hadn't known how she got there. That was the problem, she remembered everything. It was hazy and surreal, but she'd retained it all. Ryan, all the fun she'd had on her own, and then Thorne. Two men in one day, that had never happened to her, ever. She knew it had been the pollen, and it wasn't as though she was committed to anyone or anything, but ... still. She'd left her lean-to as carefully as she could and headed for the spring to clean up. Halfway there she stopped, blue eyes widening as the realization hit her that there'd been absolutely no protection used. She hadn't been on the pill even back home; she'd had bad reactions to it in her younger years. She was a firm believer in condoms and ... oh gods.

Her immediate first impulse was to find Ryan and warn him. Then do the same for Thorne. She couldn't believe she might've gotten pregnant under the influence of flowers, for fuck's sake! Shaking a little, Delilah forced herself to start walking again. She would clean up first, she would think, she would go back to consult the sticks and bones she'd collected, and then she would come up with a plan. Shit. Shit shit shit shit.

( Shit shit shit shit shit shit damn. )

Who: Helena and Analiese
When: Mid Morning,
What: Talking it out
Where: On the beach, talking it out.
Rating: PG most likely!

Helena felt languid from the moment she'd woken up. She'd spared a few minty kisses for her honey before they had gone their separate ways after breakfast. She was in no hurry to get anywhere or do anything and so, after taking the State of the Union with her two fellow council members, both of whom looked tense and unhappy to her, she'd peeled away from camp. Not far, though. She'd taken her freshly filled water bottle and eased herself down into the sand directly in front of camp on the beach. The breeze was lovely and even the occasional sprinkle of rain was welcome. Helena felt like she'd need to stay visible and in one place today. While a couple of people seemed to be in the same rubbery state of bliss that she was, most were hunched and avoiding the eyes of everyone around them. She had a sense that some people would need a confidant today and so she planned to relax and make herself available.

Analiese felt unwell both physically and mentally today. She wasn't sure if it was the cold water in the spring or being out in the hot sun for quite a while the day before, but she'd awakened shivery and slightly achy. She'd actually skipped breakfast in favor of staying in her bedroll, not really feeling like talking to anyone... plus she could avoid seeing Aaron that way. He probably didn't want to see her any more than she wanted to see him, she thought. She certainly wasn't blaming him for anything, because she'd been equally as enthusiastic about what they'd done. It was just awkward. Finally she got up, crept off into the brush to take care of personal needs and then wandered back to camp and down toward the beach, her cardigan sweater wrapped tightly around herself.

She spotted Helena sitting near the water's edge and plodded over to join her; Helena was one of the few people here that she'd be willing to talk to right now. "Mornin'," she said, easing herself down into a seated position on the sand.

( My Day's Called Regret )

Who: Coop and Adnan
When: early afternoon
Where: The beach near camp
Rating: PG 13

Even after talking with Bazzer, Adnan had spent most of the day away from camp. He'd decided that work could wait another day, even after losing one. And if any of the other guys felt like cutting some wood, he'd marked out the lengths he needed anyway. He just needed some space, so he walked, hung out with Tripper until the dog had presumably headed back to his mistress, took a swim, watched the grazers ... just spent time in contemplation. He was well-aware that he might've impregnated this -- wonderful so far -- woman he hardly knew the day before. It was something that weighed heavy on his mind. Despite the very careful flings he'd had on the road, for a roof or a ride, Adnan took the possibility of fatherhood seriously. Starting a family was something he'd always wanted to do, he just didn't know if this had been the best way to do it. Unintentional, passionate, heat of the moment, with someone he wasn't one-hundred-percent sure on.

So he needed to talk to her. That was a given. It was just how. When he felt like he had what he wanted to say in mind, he walked back to camp to look for her. It was better to get it out of the way, get things laid out in the open, where they could discuss them. Adnan followed the path back to camp, still only clad in jeans and his boots.

Coop wasn't in camp but she wasn't far. She'd woken that morning to find Adnan was gone (but his jacket was tucked under her head as a pillow) and that wasn't strange. However, she'd quickly learned that the lumberjacks hadn't gone off to find trees at all that day. None of this phased Coop, as much as she was eager to see her new lover again. She was thinking much more clearly today and wanted to clear the air. Not that she thought it needed much clearing. In Coop's world, well, she'd already made her decision about Adnan before the pollen, hadn't she? She'd even told him - though not in so many words - that she couldn't spend the night with him without having sex of some sort with him. In blew the pollen and too away the possibility, replaced it with a definitely, and now she was...content. Well, sore, but still rather zen about their decision.

( Tell Me True )

Who: Cross and Rowan
When: morning
Where: at the spring
Status: in progress

Breakfast had been the oddest meal Cross could recall since he'd arrived here about a month ago. People had been either blushy and quiet or almost giddy and babbling to break the air of nervous unease that had surrounded the circle. He felt fortunate that he hadn't slept with anyone besides Helena, and there was nothing wrong with that as far as he was concerned. They might not speak of it in concrete terms, but they were in a relationship. Thus, as much sex as they felt capable of should be perfectly acceptable.

He headed off to the spring with his water bottle, pleased that he felt much more normal today. Most of the pollen seemed to have blown away during the night, and the air was cooler. It was very pleasant, he thought as he ambled along, rounding the curve on the path that would take him to the spring and lookout tower.

( TBC )

Who: Adnan and Bazzer
When: early morning
Where: away from camp

Adnan woke up with the desire -- no, need -- to go for a walk. A long one, before the day heated up, and alone. The day before was vivid in his mind, though it felt more like a dream than anything else. It wasn't; Coop's bare limbs tangled with his when he'd woke up had been evidence enough to that. Not to mention the dull soreness in most every muscle he had. But what he remembered ... he wasn't unhappy with what had happened, he was just ... surprised at himself. After he'd lost count of how many times they'd made love, he knew there was something else at work -- the pollen was pretty obvious when one thought about it for a minute or two -- but hadn't cared.

Now, he wondered. Had the impulses been genuine? What did it all mean now? It was all so fast, and he needed some time to clear his head. Or make the attempt, anyway. He'd disentangled himself from his newfound lover, put his jeans and boots on, and headed out for a shirtless walk, hoping the cooler air would do him some good. Tripper had accompanied him, the hound making sure his mistress was soundly asleep before bounding after Adnan.

With a soft grunt, the man lobbed a stick for the dog, legs swishing through the purple grass, his mind all over the place.