Eggshelled: Catching Lightning in a Jar, or a reasonable facsimile thereof

[Oblivion]

FAN CREATED STUFFS

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Hey guys I did a thing.



So yeah.

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Yet another Sburb-based story yaaaay

A bit of an explanation: I started this on another forum not too long ago, a bit under a month. A good portion of that time was taken up by learning the basics of spritework, so not very many updates got done; that said, the other forum is fairly sparsely populated, so I decided to relocate the adventure here. It's not too far in, so you won't be missing many chances to throw out commands; the main thing you're losing is the chance to name one of the characters, otherwise the entire story is still before you. Please do not post any responses until I post all the updates that have already been made; I'll note when that is, thanks in advance.

I am very interested in critique, both on story and on art, as part of this is an intent to teach myself GIMP/Photoshop/Flash. So feel free to leave commentary or send me a PM with your thoughts. I'd greatly appreciate it. Also feel free to toss out any questions you think should be in this first post as a sort of FAQ.

In a universe far but not too far from our own, there are many stars, many having planets of their own. Many of these planets have stories to tell.

We don't have time for all of them though so we're just going to focus on this one.

>

A bright blue star, patron to eight planets. Of these, only one is really important.

View the third planet.

In a less-powerful solar system, this green planet might have been able to sustain life, and vibrantly. Under the glow of a yellow sun, for example, instead of a blue. Perhaps sometime in its ancient past, it may even have been habitable.

Not now though. Its too-near proximity to its star has reduced its atmosphere to a toxic, superheated haze. If anything can live here, it does not interest us.

View the fifth planet.

Too far. This grey wasteland of a planet is too distant from even the powerful rays of its sun to support life. The three remaining planets beyond the asteroid belt there are even less likely to be worthwhile.

Let's take a step back, shall we? Why didn't we even do this in the first place.

View the fourth planet.

That's better. Four is a good number.

This little blue-brown planet is a bit smaller than its neighbors. But given the power of its star it's at just the right distance. It and its four moons are of a bit more importance to us than the rest of this distant system.

This little planet needs a name.

[Oblivion]

THIS LAND.

There should be amusing commentary here about graves, betrayal, and evil laughter. Sadly it's a bit too early in the story for that kind of thing. We'll make a note that we owe you and get back to you at a later date.

Notearth.

Indeed, this is not earth. However true that may be, that's not a name.

Tetraterra.

Now that's more like it.

Let's have a closer look, shall we?

>

In the rolling plains of this world's supercontinent, we find our first subject. A single member of the superior species of this planet.

.>

Pardon the dramatic shift of imagery.

Here we find ourselves at the residence of a RANCH KEEPER and her FATHER: a small, quaint HOMESTEAD in the wilderness.

Now where did she get to...?

[Oblivion]

Town Market?

Extremely unlikely. The closest town is easily three days' travel, and that's by riding.

No, she's here on the property, somewhere. That we can be assured of.

Better check the kitchen.

It appears this CONFECTION RECEPTACLE has been tampered with.

The culprit can't be far.

.>

Here she is. She appears to have retreated to her dormitory. And with the culinary evidence still in hand.

It's not as if she's going to be punished, though. Sweets are made to be eaten and the bin is there to be raided.

So, who do we have here?

Enter name. .>

Not only does the word nabisco mean absolutely nothing and thus sound ridiculous and stupid, you are quite insulted by the idea of someone likening you to a thief.

No, that's obviously not right.

Try again. .>

Now that's more like it.

Examine dormitory. .>

Your name is ALCIPPE DROSANNA. You are a member of a RANCH KEEPING FAMILY dwelling in the rolling PLAINS where CATTLE and CROPS thrive. You live here with your FATHER, the OWNER of the ranch. You are a HARDWORKING, DEDICATED young woman who has a natural GOOD RAPPORT WITH ANIMALS. For the most part you're FRIENDLY to nearly everyone you meet, and very OUTGOING, but you have a bit of a TEMPER, especially when you FALL SHORT of your OWN EXPECTATIONS.

In addition to your many CHORES, you tend to spend your time READING, and have a love of SUPERNATURAL OR MYTHICAL FICTIONS; sometimes you attempt to CREATE your own, mostly with the aid of friends you met over THE NEXMESH, a world-wide electronic communication network; your ranch is FAR FROM ANY VILLAGES, so you really haven't met very many people in person. You like WHITTLING AND CARVING but you're not very good at it. You have a COLLECTION OF GLASS AND GEMSTONE SCULPTURES but keep them carefully STORED AWAY so they won't be damaged. You also have a bit of a SWEET TOOTH, and are a fairly decent COOK as a result.

To your friends, who you only really know through THE NEXMESH, you are known as nurturalWarden, though a few do know your real name and you theirs.

Today is the LAST DAY of your youth. Tomorrow will be your HATCHDAY, when you at last reach FOUR SPANS of age, and like the majority of your friends you will finally be considered an ADULT. On that day many things will change, not the least of which is that, as an ADULT, you will NO LONGER be allowed to FREELY live on your FATHER'S PROPERTY; you will either need to make ARRANGEMENTS with him to live and work on his land as a TENANT, or go SOME PLACE OF YOUR OWN and START FROM SCRATCH.

But that is a decision for TOMORROW. TODAY, you and your friends are going to PLAY A GAME.

[Oblivion]

Check Closet for any Jeff Goldblums. .>

You open your closet. A series of TUNICS hang on the bar, while BOXES of your POSSESSIONS sit on the floor. Most of your belongings are packed up, pending your Hatchday tomorrow. While you most likely will be remaining on your Father's land as a tenant temporarily, he'll probably require you to build your own home rather than dwelling in your dormitory like you have for the past four spans. That shouldn't be too hard, supplies are prevalent: what tools you don't already own you can borrow, and there is a wooded area not too far from your home where you can acquire timber. In about a moon, you should be done with a simple, one-room dwelling, and for the time being that's likely all you'll need. Maybe in about another span, you'll have outgrown it. But by then, you might be moving off the land completely. If the sense strikes you, you might even leave sooner than that.

Your people are rather prone to fits of wanderlust, especially in your fourth span. You're an independent-minded folk, and no one - least of all your Father - will be surprised to see you having no patience for the life of a tenant.

There's no Goldbloom in here, by the way. It's been over a span since you tried the "garden in your closet" phase, and it didn't work out so well in your case. Mainly because your plants got no sunlight and you kept forgetting to water them. You've never heard of a Jaff Goldbloom, either, but then again you're hardly a herbologist or floralist; one of your friends has that particular fancy, you'll leave the expertise to her.

Flick sun lamp on and off to simulate a techno rave party. .>

Your HEATLAMP isn't very bright, so turning it on and off doesn't do much to the overall lighting in your room. This is a good thing, really; a bright lamp would make sleeping difficult.

That's okay though, you don't know what rave is anyway. And techno sounds like something another of your friends would understand. She has a thing for weird gadgets and machines. She even is related to one of the people who made the Nexmesh, or so she says. You're not too sure about that.

It's the middle of late summer, though, so your room is already comfortably warm. You turn the lamp back off.

Check inventory. .>

With your pastry devoured, you are carrying one item - a simple CORD, stored in your WHIPKIND PREDATION PACK. Otherwise, your SYLLADEX is currently empty. It's not as if you make a habit of going around carrying a lot of useless items, after all. You're a busy girl, you don't have time to fool around with inventory shenanigans.

Speaking of which, what manner of sylladex allocation do you use?

Piggybank modus - Insert local currency equivalent, retrieve item. Once you earn a boonbuck, you can retrieve your money. (light pink)

Currency? You're not familiar with that word.

Cool modus (blue) - You can only captchalogue items of a certain coolness factor. The modus tells you how much cooler an item needs to be if you try to captchalogue it and fail.

One of your friends has this modus. He seems to do a good job with it, but to you it seems like an unruly pain in the tail.

-----

AUTHORSPIEL:
Decision time! Suggest modus and associated colors. Be sure to explain how it functions (in a spoiler if necessary) if it isn't blatantly obvious. The following suggestions are carried over from the previous posting of this adventure:

Command modus - The inventory is your bitch. The bossier you are, the more successful your item retrieval. (violet)
Effort modus - If you get the wrong item, you weren't TRYING hard enough. (brown)
Sign language modus (gray)
Sketch modus (pencil dark yellow)
Hatch modus - items are stored as eggs and will watch precisely when you need them (eggshell)
Die modus - enough sides to correspond to all cards, each card is numbered (black)
Aria modus - sing/hum the appropriate tune for each item (red)
Sack modus - ...why did you think this was a good idea? Everything's all jumbled together, and it's nigh impossible to see what you're grabbing! (tan)
Scare Modus (yellow) - Items pop out at random! Most often when your guard's down, and either make a lot of noise or none at all but they hit you.
Silly Modus (pink) - Make silly faces/poses at your modus to call out an item. These are either determined when you captchalogue it or when you're going to retreive it, idk. >_>
Improv Modus (red) - You can only retrieve items when you don't have a huge plan to use them.
Wisdom modus - To retrieve your items, share an important life lesson with your modus. (lavender)
Beauty Modus (white) - Objects can only be captchalogued if they're pretty and in good condition. It cannot release objects in an area where they'd be damaged or dirtied.

VOTE TALLY
Aria: ||||
Effort: ||||
Silly: |
Hatch: |

Also this command has been archived:

> Lick doll and howl at the moon_



This is now open for posting! Apologies for the unorthodox method.

[Ladybug]

I'm casting my vote for the Aria modus.

[Siya]

Also voting for the Aria modus

[MessiahForHire]

She's on a ranch; CLEARLY she needs that Effort Modus. :D

[theEternalNewb]

Silly Modus, given that it is pink, is clearly the most superior option.

[TheFinalWraith]

Yeah effort modus sounds good.

[theEternalNewb]

Aria Modus, being red, comes in as a close second to Silly Modus.

[Ladybug]

Hey, Obliv, you just want votes, or are you still wanting modus suggestions?

[FIDUSPAWN]

Voting for Silly Modus too.

[Sinjin]

Effort. That is all.

[Oblivion]

Hey, Obliv, you just want votes, or are you still wanting modus suggestions?

I think we have enough suggestions, to be honest.

[theEternalNewb]

I'm going to change my vote from Silly to Aria.

[Ladybug]

She's on a ranch; CLEARLY she needs that Effort Modus.

The lady has a point. I'm swapping my vote from Aria to Effort.

[theEternalNewb]

*sigh*

My efforts at thwarting effort will do no good where they are.


I'm swapping back to Silly and hoping for a miracle.

[BunBun]

Hatch Modus, it seems to be the most useful!

[MessiahForHire]

*sigh*

My efforts at thwarting effort will do no good where they are.


I'm swapping back to Silly and hoping for a miracle.

Obviously you're not TRYING hard enough. =D

[theEternalNewb]

Well then in THAT case...

VOTE HARDER: Silly Modus

[ThirdEmperor]

Aria Modus, and all songs should be from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

[The Dr.]

Aria Modus, and all songs should be from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Hahahahaha yessss.

[theEternalNewb]

...

Yeah.

Unvote: Silly

Vote: Aria.

[GuAndrade]

Aria, for sure.

[MessiahForHire]

I am completely okay with the RHPS Aria thing but come on let someone who has the legs for it be the person forced to sing Sweet Transvestite. <_<