Into the woods and who can tell what's waiting on the journey?

[maskormods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHERE: The West Virginia Federal Cryptozoological Reserve
WHEN: September 15th into the 16th
WHAT: September Swear-In
WARNINGS: Creatures of the night! And day. And in-between.

Welcome, welcome, imPorts of all shapes, sizes, and atomic composition! As an acknowledgement of all your hard (or not, for some of you, but imPorts celebrate as one) work over the summer, the government is granting you a sneak-peak of the new Federal Cryptozoological Reserve in the lovely rolling- and now carefully guarded- hills of West Virginia.



It’s only a couple hours drive from multiple porter cities, meaning you’re free to transport yourself or hop onto one of the reserved tour buses waiting to depart from the De Chima, Nonah, and Maurtia Falls porter buildings. The bus ride is relatively low key, with a nice promotional video playing in the background highlighting the lovely forest, mountain, fresh water and- in the case of ocean or ice dwelling creatures- enclosed artificial environments all the newly arrived in this universe creatures can now thrive in. ImPorts are thanked from saving these amazing creatures from a horrible, agonizing death they would have suffered without nanites to stabilize them. The video also makes careful note that while they have given the creatures plenty of space to wander and thrive, heavy security measures are in place. Think Jurassic Park, only with more experienced security contractors and oversight.



The main event is being held in the information center, a beautiful mountainside lodge/mansion with glorious views of surrounding Appalachia. See the trees just starting to turn colors, the lovely rivers and lakes, the blue skies outside the windows. Wander around to read informational panels about various cryptids- including which imPort or government official bagged and brought them in (OOC: to see a list of imPort caught cryptids, click here), read the very short history of the founding of the reserve, or obtain a map of the outdoor exhibits.

At the Mystery Mountain Mezzanine Lounge and Bar enjoy your on the house lunch and dinner and your first two drinks free, whether they be brightly colored, cryptid inspired cocktails like the La Chupacabra Chaser or Kappa Kosmo, or soothing teas, coffees, or juice smoothies (all also creatively named, such as the Lusca Lavender Earl Grey and Bigfoot Banana smoothie). From the comfortable window facing booths, lounge chairs, and couches, you can also watch the occasional (non actively predatory, those are in their own area) flying cryptid pass by, like the gorgeous Olitiau, from behind the safety of bullet-proof glass. Or the slightly more adventurous can go up to the rooftop bar and experience it all with only a few patio umbrellas to separate you and nature. Signs remind you to please don't feed the animals, including the Thunderbirds- they have their own designated blood troughs they've been trained to drink from.



The reserve itself has walkable trails or, for the lazier, a narrow gauge railway that will take you around the major exhibits while serving drinks and snacks. Again similar to Jurassic Park, there are fences separating you from the more dangerous creatures, but the very benign crytipds, like the Fresno Nightcrawlers, are allowed to wander around similar to the native deer and may even come close enough to say hello. All enclosures are large enough that creatures can be outside of curious human eyes if they want to, so be sure to come back again if you don’t see the crytpid you were hoping for!



These paths and rail also go through temperature-controlled glass tunnels throughout the artificial environments, allowing you to look at aquatic or chilly creatures in their man-made versions of native environments. Some of the more aggressive, people eating, creatures may test the barriers from time to time, but don’t worry. It’s the strongest glass known to multi-dimensional technology. It should be fine.

All in all it’s a gorgeous, and surprisingly calm, reserve that managed to spring up over the summer. A place like this seems like it should have taken longer to build with government bureaucracy and all- even the very short history of the location in the main building is rather vague about anything beyond the glorious involvement of the imPorts in helping create this facility and find the silver lining in the dimensional bleedthrough that’s been happening. But don’t worry about it. All the cryptids you helped catch are safe and happy in a place where the public can see them and important scientific research can be performed. Isn’t that all that really matters?

After a nice day of seeing the sites and enjoying the food and drink, the normal swear-in ceremony is gotten out of the way and two last events are underway: the naming and adoption event.

For the naming event, imPorts can bid to have a cryptid of their choice named after them! Or after their friends or enemies. Who doesn’t want to name a blood-sucking slug creature from the bottom of the ocean after their roommate that just won’t do the dishes. Or a glorious phoenix after themselves, take your pick.

The adoption event is perhaps a bit more concerning, ethically speaking, but really there is only enough room for so many Jackalopes or cat-sized Zaratans in the building. For a donation to the reserve and signing a contract agreeing to monthly check-ins from the government on the health and well-being of the creature, imPorts can adopt their very own pet cryptid to bring home with them. All the cryptids available are the size of a Great Dane or smaller and have no powers or abilities beyond that of your average Great Dane. They’re just awesome to have around.



Starting just after these auctions buses will start leaving every two hours for the porter cities. However, people are welcome to stay until dawn, enjoying food, drinks, and picking up a pair of night-vision goggles for walking the trails or riding the trains to see some of the more nocturnal crytpids (the Mothmen, for instance, can only be seen at night). You can even borrow camping supplies and set up for an overnight in designating areas of the Reserve for the really adventurous!


OOC: FOR QUESTIONS AND ADDITIONAL PLOT INFORMATION PLEASE SEE THIS POST!

Comments

for Chloe

[hisfavoriteson]

[After this.]

[The red fades from his eyes as they return to their usual brown, because he's trying not to scare humans.]

I am not the villain.

[But of course Chloe is the only one who can hear him.]

[thevulnerability]

No, you're just an overdramatic child.

[ While she knows this isn't totally on him, that doesn't stop her from snapping at him, even though she also keeps her voice low. ]

[hisfavoriteson]

For pointing out that people have the ability to make choices?

[That's what he did. It's not his fault Gabriel didn't want to hear it.]

[thevulnerability]

No, for deliberately baiting someone else at a party to the point that it was going to get physical. It's not the time or place, Lucifer, and you don't always have to be right.

[hisfavoriteson]

I did not provoke him. [Okay, so maybe he had, a little bit. Not enough to earn a reaction like that.] He was overreacting just a bit.

[thevulnerability]

You need to learn to take some responsibility for the way you make people feel.

[hisfavoriteson]

I'm responsible for his feelings?

[Why are humans so confusing? Where is Linda when he needs her?]

[thevulnerability]

No, not... Not necessarily.

[ Why are celestials so confusing? It's like talking to Trixie. ]

But you are responsible for what you say and how that can make them feel. And in this case, you pissed him off.

[hisfavoriteson]

[That is because Trixie is awesome.]

He did the same thing to me.

[thevulnerability]

[ That's because Trixie is eight. ]

That's my point. You have to be the bigger person!

[hisfavoriteson]

It's okay for him to offend me but I can't offend him?

[thevulnerability]

Yes, I mean, no! Are you being deliberately dense right now or are you trying to piss me off?

[hisfavoriteson]

So am I just not supposed to talk to people?

[thevulnerability]

Sure, if it means not antagonizing people in public, maybe you shouldn't talk to people.

[ If he's going to be dramatic about it, so is she. ]

[hisfavoriteson]

I didn't do it on purpose.

[thevulnerability]

I...

[ She huffs, throwing up her hands. ]

Lucifer, it's really hard trying to teach you how to be human sometimes.

[hisfavoriteson]

I'm not human. And neither is he.

[thevulnerability]

I know that, that's not my point...

[ She huffs again. ]

You have to learn to be human if you're going to live around them. Or at least try to understand them.

[hisfavoriteson]

I wasn't talking to a human. How would understanding humans help?

[thevulnerability]

I... I don't know, Lucifer. It's just important.

[ At this point, she can't even really remember what they are arguing about. He just pissed her off was the point. ]

When you do stuff like that you freak people out, okay?

[hisfavoriteson]

I didn't do that on purpose.

[thevulnerability]

[ She huffs dramatically. ]

Can you just try to be... [ She waves her hands at him. ] Normal when we're in public?

[hisfavoriteson]

Okay, I'll try to be normal when we're in public.

[thevulnerability]

I didn't mean it like that.

[hisfavoriteson]

Then how did you mean it?