Space Jellyfish Overhead
What game I'm playing: Space Jellyfish Overhead
In this game, you roll dice, choose playing cards, and write journal entries based on prompts in the game booklet. The game is played in acts: Act One (Searching), Act Two (Arrival), Act Three (The Jelly Days), and Act Four (Departure). It takes place in ancient Land, but for this play through I'm using it to set up a modern world that I can play around with.
What character I'm playing: Owen (he/him) the athlete. He's obnoxious and competitive. He has a lot to learn about being a good friend and community member, but he'll get there eventually.
Previously on: Owen arrived in his home town to volunteer to help his high school volleyball team through fundraising, but the volunteer project was very different from what he was expecting. He was put into a group of three people who are new in town and expected to be the expert as someone who grew up there. But he's been gone too long and some things are different, like his favorite brunch restaurant is closed for good now. The small group of volunteers decided against going out to lunch together as Owen wallowed about this unfortunate news.
Prelude to the game:
“Aren't you supposed to be giving us a tour around town?” Finnley asked. “You are the one who grew up here, after all.”
Owen frowned at his tone that sounded doubtful. “Of course I can do that. I know this place like the back of my hand.”
And so the world is introduced. Let's see what else is different or unexpected...
Roll for town name: Whisper Crossing, on the edge of the Great Sea
Act One: Searching
(NOTE: Instead of writing about years passing, I'm going to write about the same one day because it fits with the characters and plot I'm playing around with.)
Roll dice to choose first location prompt: The Broken Lands: A graveyard of ancient war machines. What do you find among the ruins?
No wonder recreation was taking a hit here. Owen stared at the place that used to be a park when he was a child. Now it looked more like a graveyard of ancient war machines. What used to be a playground and tennis courts now looked twisted and dangerous. Trees were fallen down and rotting. There used to be a volleyball court here, too, but all he saw were two wooden poles sticking out of the ground. There was no net.
“What happened here?”
Roan had opened a notebook and was writing something down, but he looked up at Owen as he spoke. “Acceptance packet, page two.”
Owen narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. Clearly he should have done the reading before he came here. He reluctantly flipped the packet to the next page and read out loud.
“'The town's recreation program and locations have largely been forgotten and mishandled, which is why we recruited you brave volunteers to come help clean it up.' Help clean it up? That's not what I signed up for!”
Owen's heart was beating fast now. Nothing was making sense today.
“Well, I didn't sign up for a team leader who doesn't know jack shit about anything,” Finnley said. He didn't sound exasperated, but Owen could see it in his eyes. He tried to hold eye contact with him, but Finnley broke his gaze away to lean down and look at some pieces of junk on the ground to see if anything could be recycled or used in some other way.
Roll dice to choose second location prompt: Ninety Mile Beach: Your mind wanders home. Who do you miss from your village? Why?
They left the old park and headed for the beach. Owen had memories of playing beach volleyball there, too. He hoped the beach was still as clean and beautiful as he remembered it. The ocean was always the most beautiful deep blue color. When he was a kid, before middle school and high school brought out his competitive nature, his rival used to play with him there. They'd snorkel together without a care in the world...
The beach was still beautiful, but it was lonely.
Roll dice to choose third location prompt: Glaciers of Ice: Timeless frozen expanse. What oddity do you glimpse encased in the ice?
Roan kept writing in his book as they traveled down the beach. At the end of it, there was something so absurd that Owen didn't know what to think. Roan, though, seemed to be a step ahead of him again. It must have been in the packet somewhere.
“This is it!” Roan said excitedly, though he looked scared to go any closer to it. Owen, on the other hand, walked right up to the edge and put his face close to it.
“Don't!” Roan warned, but Owen ignored him. He continued staring down into the random section of frozen beach. The waves were frozen, and he could see a little crab stuck inside the ice. Poor little guy. Owen rubbed his chin.
“What the hell happened here? It's not winter. Why is it frozen?”
Roan swallowed nervously as Owen continued walking around the frozen water. “It's... It's very dangerous. Please don't touch it.”
“Why? It's just ice...” Owen reached out to touch, but someone caught his arm as Roan cried out. Owen turned and saw Gwyn standing next to him. He nearly screeched at the sudden close proximity. They were so quiet that he had completely forgotten their existence.
Gwyn quietly pulled him away from the ice. Then, at a safe distance, they took the packet out of his other hand and pointed to a page. He read out loud again. “Please make sure to avoid the frozen areas in town. This strange phenomenon of moments frozen in time have not been studied enough to ensure the safety of anyone who touches them.”
Finnley rolled his eyes. “Our tour guide almost got himself frozen in time. Can I request a replacement?”
Owen glared at him. “Hey, I've been away from home for a while. But do none of you think this is weird? My town never used to have freaky shit happening like this.”
“Again, your ignorance is showing. Why did you think they set up such a big, important volunteer project?” Finnley asked. “This is a really big deal. If you're going to flake out on us, I'd rather you do it now.”
Owen's competitiveness flared inside him. No way was he going to lose to this brat who was at least 3 inches shorter than him. “I'm not going to flake out on you. I'm just confused, is all. This is nothing like what I grew up in.”
(For the sake of not making this post too long, I'm going to continue to Act Two)
Act Two: Arrival
The atmosphere shifts. The sky ripples with otherworldly light. Thousands of enormous interstellar jellyfish descend from the heavens and hang in the air above you. Roll dice for jellyfish appearance.
Owen's jaw dropped as violet, translucent jellyfish suddenly hovered above them in the sky. Roan squeaked in fright and held his notebook up in front of his face as if it could shield him from the shimmering light and majestic creatures. Even Finnley was stunned into silence, at least for a few minutes.
“Based on the look on your face,” he finally said with a gulp. “This didn't happen when you lived here either?”
Owen swayed on his feet, but no one was fast enough to catch him before he fell onto the sand.
Act Three: The Jelly Days
The Jellyfish enter your dreams, conveying messages through enigmatic and surreal images. Choose playing cards for truth, threat, or task, and read the prompts to receive a vision.
(I'm only going to play this part for one day/dream instead of three.)
I chose the Task cards.
Small task: Festive gathering. Hold a festival to encourage unity. How will the event bring people together? What rituals might be involved? How might it connect with Land’s past?
Big task: Activate relic. Activate a dormant ancient artefact. Which LOCATION that you visited in your travels is the location of the device? Can you do this alone or do you need assistance? What THREAT will the relic address?
Owen laid passed out on the beach. Roan gasped and rushed towards him until he was on his knees next to him, ready to do CPR if needed. Gwyn slowly sat next to him too, checking for his breath and pulse. He was breathing perfectly fine, and his heart was beating. Finnley stood behind them, looking down at his disappointing tour guide.
“Do you think he lied on his application?” he asked.
Gwyn looked at his sharply. Roan flailed his arms.
“This is not the time for making fun of him!” Roan said. “He could have hurt himself.”
“Exactly. A tour guide who knew this place wouldn't have fainted so easily.”
Meanwhile, Owen was having strange dreams. Flashes of a festival in the park appeared in his dream. The volleyball net was back up and looked perfect. But the visions still didn't look like the town in his past. Instead, it looked like something completely new. And as he finally came to and blinked his eyes open, he knew what it all meant.
“We have to make it brand new,” he muttered. "Stop living in the past."
“Was that his voice? Owen, are you alive? Are you okay?” Roan hovered over him, blinking down at him. His face flushed red as both of them realized how close their faces were to each other. Roan quickly leaned back up and accidentally smacked into Finnley, who was trying to peer over his shoulder.
Owen spoke again after they stopped exclaiming their pain. “We have to make a brand new world.”
All three of his new companions on this journey tilted their heads in confusion down at him.
Act Four: Departure
The bloom of jellyfish, satisfied that they had delivered their message to the humans below, were suddenly gone as quickly as they had appeared. Owen sat up, which brought his face back close to Roan's. Owen's head was still fuzzy from receiving messages from the jellyfish, but for a fleeting moment he noticed how cute Roan's freckles were. But then he blinked and tried to clear his head.
“What was that all about?” Finnley asked.
“These jellyfish...” Owen began. “I always thought they were a myth. They come once in a generation to pass along a message. I guess I'm one of the people who can receive messages from them.”
“You received a message?” Roan asked, in awe.
“A few, actually,” Owen said. “I can only sort of remember them, but I think I got the basic idea of what they were trying to say.”
“You mean the 'We have to make a brand new world' thing you just blurted out?” Finnley crossed his arms, looking a little impressed now. For the first time, Owen realized that a bird was flying around a few inches above his head. It wasn't a real bird. It looked like a little machine.
Well, after seeing time frozen on the beach and giant flying jellyfish from space, a tiny mechanical bird was the least of his worries now. What he was really worried about now was the fact that his silly little volunteering project had turned out much, much more complicated than he thought he could handle. At first he wasn't going to show his weakness to the others, but as he sat there on the beach, he started to panic. Words came tumbling out of his mouth so fast that no one could understand a word. Finnley went back to looking unimpressed.
“Could the aliens have picked any worse?”
Thanks for reading! More to come!