[hr][hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/39W8nF9.png[/img][/center][hr][hr][center][h2][color=F4A460]M A R C E L I N E   ||   [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPAwTqig4_c][color=F4A460]♫[/color][/url][/color][/h2][/center][hr][hr][center][sub][color=F4A460][b]Present: Ayla Arslan [@Ti], Evander Fino Synesti [@RezonanceV], Tku Pictor [@dragonpiece], Fiske Flachstrauch [@jasbraq], Zarina Al-Nader [@YummyYummy], and Desmond Catulus [@Th3King0fChaos][/b][/color][/sub][/center][hr][hr]
[color=F4A460]It was a long moment and it stretched out after the ranger had left with Jocasta. Desmond began to look around. Everyone seemed to be thinking, but that wasn't the test, this was about their instincts, not some puzzle. Desmond yelled out, [color=gold]"Orange!"[/color] Starting to force people to get the ball rolling.

[color=#E5E4E2]“Purple.”[/color] announced a cross-armed Zarina with her helm removed.

Marceline wasn't completely sure what to do, but she was feeling daring, and so she followed Desmond's and Zarina's lead. The former's shout had grabbed her attention so, without any further thought, she shouted: [color=598527]"orange!"[/color] looking around guiltily immediately afterward.

Ayla watched everyone shout out their favourite colour, and decided to join them. [colour=009fff]"Blue!"[/colour] 

[color=734960]"Red!"[/color] Tku exclaimed and, after tending to the last of Zarina's injuries, he made quick work of the scorched duo's wounds, offering a single nod in their direction to reassure them that it was him doing it.

Desmond nodded to Tku as he looked expectantly at the others who had yet to speak.

[color=#FF00FF]"Yellow.."[/color] Fiske groaned from the burn wounds' sting even if it was somewhat fading.

[color=fd5e53]"Um... red?[/color] Yalen shrugged, not really understanding the point of this exercise.

[color=00a99d]"Yellow again!"[/color] said Benny, more or less [i]trying[/i] to mess things up for the others. He crossed his arms and grinned malevolently.

[color=cc5500][i]A Sirrahi?![/i][/color] Evander felt a compulsion to ask questions, to ask about Disska. To identify the reason why a Sirrahi had lured them here and put them through trials that could have killed them. He didn't. Evander refrained. Nobody else had questioned why they were engaging a snake person, and everyone, to his surprise, bought in. Each called out a color. It seemed... foolish, but they were in this large room with nowhere to go except forward... [color=cc5500]"Blue,"[/color] he said reluctantly.

It was not long before Jocasta returned with the ranger. [color=ffdead]"I have my misgivings, but have been convinced of the… [i]necessity[/i] of this,"[/color] she admitted. Her eyes darted about the clearing before seizing on Yalen. She offered a supportive smile and let them drift again. [color=ffdead]"Stay safe everyone."[/color] Expelling a nervous breath, she let out one more word: [color=ffdead]"purple"[/color].

With that, the sirrahi nodded. [color=A0522D]"Thank y'all, and I mean it. Whatcher doin' could save every one of us."[/color] Then, he flickered and disappeared as if he'd never even been there. A sudden, massive surge of temporal energy replaced him.[/color] 

[hr][hr][center][h2][color=F4A460]T E M P E S T   ||   [/color][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E-_Xpj0Mgo][color=F4A460]♫[/color][/url][/h2][/center][hr][hr]
[color=F4A460]Ayla, Benedetto, Desmond, Evander, Fiske, Marceline, Tku, and Zarina blinked and opened their eyes. They were in a desert, again. The blazing sun beat down upon them and the hot sand scratched at their eyes. In fact, the only thing that they could see for miles around, aside from sand, was a series of distant structures - almost sail-like - spinning slowly in the wind.

Marci turned on the spot, three hundred sixty degrees, taking in the vast nothingness that surrounded the group. The sun reflected off of the burning red-white wastes and she blinked. The air around them was distorted by the heat. There was plenty of wind to alleviate it, but this was hot and blustery, prone to whipping up sand and dust at unpredictable intervals, and it only made the heat worse, if possible. 

[color=00a99d]“Well, that was fuckin’ productive,”[/color] grumbled Benny, casting about. He seemed about to spit in the sand, but then thought better of it. He glanced Marci’s way. [color=00a99d]“You got range, Gimpy, right?”[/color] he crossed his arms and looked at her expectantly. Then, he seemed to soften. [color=00a99d]“I mean… how ‘bout you sweep the area, Marce?”[/color]

She glared at him for a moment, moving a bit closer to Ayla and Zarina, who bristled at the insult to their friend. [color=#E5E4E2]“How about you go fuck yourself, bud?”[/color] the latter snapped back. Marceline held up a hand to stop them, shooting Zarina a thankful, apologetic look. Then, she focused and energies swelled around her. Her face turned grim as the sun and wind continued their twin assaults and she brushed some hair from her face with her dominant hand, her left. [color=598527]“Nothing,”[/color] she announced, straining in the opposite direction of the sail-like structures. [color=598527]“Nothing as far as I can sense. A few critters buried deep in the sand. Maybe some ruins about seven klicks away. Fuckin’ [i]desolate[/i]”[/color] She shook her head as another hot gust of wind whipped her hair about and made her gasp. Marceline, like her grandfather, was of the desert. She knew it. She could feel its moods and survive its periodic furies. This was different, though, in a way that she couldn’t place. She could feel herself drying out, like a sponge left outside on a Dorrad day and a deep unease began to take root in her gut. It started to remind her of… 

The tethered shook her head and refocused and, dimly, she sensed a second set of ruins, much closer than the first, but mere moments passed before it hit her - it [i]overwhelmed[/i] her. Marci’s eyes bugged out. [color=598527]“Now!”[/color] she shouted, pointing about ninety degrees from where she’d started. The sun occupied a completely different position in the sky and she’d struggled to get her bearings. [color=598527]“That way!”[/color] If one squinted into the distance, the horizon looked strange and hazy. [color=598527][b][i]“SANDSTORM!!!”[/i][/b][/color][/color]

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[hider=Action Opportunities][color=F4A460][h2]S U R V I V E[/h2]
Welcome to the fifth chapter of Primitive. This is a two-parter which will lead quickly into a potential encounter, depending on your choices. To keep things dynamic and fast moving, the opening part will be played out in the discord thread over this weekend. Please see the map in the hider below this one for reference.
[indent] ❖ You find yourself in a bleak and lifeless desert. Already, people are bickering.
❖ Your supplies consist of the clothes on your back and whatever you were carrying with you. 
❖ Marci’s scan was interrupted and you don’t know what lies in the direction of the structures.
❖ There is a sandstorm bearing down upon you from due west. It’s traveling at about 40 km/h. 
❖ The leading edge of the storm is about 2 kilometers to the west. You’re in the thick of it at 2.5 kilometers. 
❖ The mysterious structures are in a rough continuous line about 3.5 kilometers to the north, barely visible.
❖ There are ruins just inside the current leading edge of the storm. If asked, Marci will reveal them. 
❖ Marci has not sensed any active animals, but that does not mean they’re not there. They may be hiding. 
❖ These storms have internal winds of 100 km/h, a height of 1000m, and scouring quartzite sand. 
❖ However, they seldom last long. If you can run from it fast enough for long enough, you should escape. 
❖ The danger is that you’re headed toward nothing and nowhere and you must worry about survival afterward.
❖ Basically, you have four choices: west into the storm and the ruins, north towards the unknown structures, east away from the storm, and south towards the much more distant ruins. You could go bigbrain and try to burrow or fly, but can everyone do that? Some are… more right than others.
❖ You may discuss, but you should act. Time is short both IC and OOC and the deadline is Monday. How will you survive? What will you do?[/indent][/color][/hider]
[hider=The Scenario Map][img]https://i.imgur.com/Tsn9u55.jpg[/img][/hider]
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