Jumanji's Creed Welcome to the Jungle
Season 1
Episode 1 The Past
It waited. Soon the drums would sound off. Soon the jungle was to call another unwary victim or two. Soon... soon it would call within its vast land another adverter seeking to leave their world behind.
Soon
It had already taken in a massive army of Isu, the ancient Precoursor race of beings from another planet. Their technology had triggered it back during the Human/Isu war. They had ages to prepare for such a battle, but their technology proved to be a match for the ancient strange gemstone.
A creation of raw magic, sheer horrifying nightmares, and even worse dreamscapes and dungeons packed into the fist sized gem. Within the gemstone was a seemingly endless jungle landscape of vast savanahs, endless thick woods. And fast growing vinery.
All of it waited for the next victim. The Isu it felt ,were the new threat, and it now needed someone to tip the balance back into play.
So it waited.
It waited a long time.
Exactly one million years ago
1 September tenth year of the riegn of Queen Arenel the Wise
Kingdom of Arendelle
Southern Arendelle border
10 am
Clearing out troops of Isu remains was one thing that the young silver haired woman didnt enjoy. Nevertheless, Diadem Wolfe was at the south border at request of her friend, the princess now queen for ten years, Arenel the Wise. One of Princess Pax's first acts as queen was properly expand Arendelles borders to the south and with Diadems mother, Yaeko Wolf providing the required historians to keep track of the years gone by, each generation of ruler added more years to Arendelles time keeping.
To say Diadem hated battle was like saying the sun never rose in the morning. Somehow, since her fourteenth birthday and the body of a noblemans son was found on their property, Diadem was found cleared of any wrong doing in the act. As she had found the man in her room one morning.
Diadem loved the fact that Queen Arenel the Wise, her closest friend throuh childhood, had given her an option, face execution at the hands of the nobles council in full public view, or act as her right hand in battle. Commanding soldiers in her stead.
Diadem naturally chose the option that most likely gave her a full chance of living at one request, as Queen Arenels own commander of her soldiers, be treated with respect when in Arendelle, and allowed to travel the kingdom freely. Arenel had agreed to the rather simple request.
But at that moment Diadem was with her second in command of a small group of soldiers after a fight, going through the dead. Kicking over a dead Isu Worshipper Diadem grumbled aloud "Why did these freaks pick this place of all places to build their shrine ?"
They were picking through the remains, finding some still alive and ensuring the dead stayed that way. The designs on the structures they had found were Isu in origin. Yet it all screamed something worse, something far more perverse in ways none could fathom.
"Not a clue." Came the reply of the woman with her, the black dressed woman had her hair half braided and mostly loose even in the braid. Her bright brown eyes matched Diadems own clear blue irises "This place gives me the creeps" Spyder said shivering slightly
Diadem had to agree "I agree" She recalled the day she met Spyder by chance. Finding her in a cavern under Arendelle, a demoness in need of a friend, Diadem took it upon herself to be just that. Spyder, Diadem knew, was really a spider demoness, able to transform into a massive black spider. And in her human form, summon up to eight extra legs, like wings off her back to get stuff done when needed.
When Diadem found herself trapped in a magical maze, it was Spyder who got them out using her eight spider legs to hit all eight door locks to get them free. When Spyder was briefly arrested at Arendelle for a crime she did not commit and was quickly set free, it was Diadem who ensured that Spyder had been freed on hi respects due to her skills and what she was
In short the noble council of Arendelle hated the fact that Diadem and the Queen were so close, if they had their way, Diadem would have been dead six ways from Sunday. If they had their way, Spyder would be cat food.
But both times the queen went against their wishes and both women survived. Yet the jobs given to both women almost always ensured one or both of them returning to Arendelle in a box.
But every time a deadly job was given to them, they always came back. So sending them to the ancient Isu Shrine city of Slitu was more helpful means of getting rid of both women at once.
But they were never counting on the fact that Diadem had taken the initative on the matter and was in proccess of writing a letter for Spyder to give to her mother in the chance of her disappearnce or death.
That evening as they were combing through the dead and dying, as Spyder dispatched the last mostly dead Isu Worshipper did they both hear the strange drumming. It sounded like a tribal drumbeat, rapid and alluring. Almost as if tempting the two women to follow it.
Turning to Spyder Diadem asked, as Spyder asked her "Do you hear something ?" The two women smirked as they spoke at the same time.
Then Spyder spoke "It sounds like tribal drums" Keeping her sword in hand the two women went to the temple door, they heard through it softly as the drums got louder. Moving her hands over the fdoor to find a seam of some kind Spyder said simply "It sounds like its coming from in here"
"It sounds like it" Diadem said sliding her twin silettos to her belt and helping Spyder look for the seam. Finding it they pulled the door open as they did so, the drumns got relentlessly loudand pounding all around them as they found what they sought.
The drums became relentlessly loud until they finally found the fist sized green and red gemstone. As soon as they laid their eyes on it the drums halted, and silence filled the chamber. For a long moment the two women stood at simply stared at the gem, almost willing it to move somehow.
Diadem spoke first "Feels like one of those Horror Crystals" the fact that horror movies even existed in a time before known history is something else entirely. Spyder smirked. Yes that was true, it felt like a horror crystal. The two of them alone, with that strange drumming gemstone.
"So, now what ?" Spyder asked, looking around the chamber she spotted writing on the walls. "Dia, look at this" Spyder said, finding the writing. Snatching up a torch Spyder read aloud "'Jumanji, players beware, for those wishing to leave their world behind, a new world beckons for a time.' Jumanji ?"
"Sounds like a crystal game like what I grew up with with Pax" Diadem said reading further information. Spyder found warnings written on another wall.
"Apparently someone tried to hide it, built the shrine around it to keep it hidden, there's all sorts of warnings, and even some powerful containment spells of some sort" Spyder said
"Containment spells fail all the time. How many ?" Diadem asked meaning the number of spells
"I count sixteen containment spells, most of them redundancies" Spyder replied. "Those six were on the door we forced open" She pointed at four broken pieces of apparent wood on the ground at their feet.
Diadem bent down and picked up one of the ancient spells from the floor. "This doesnt make sense." She said
"How so ?" Spyder asked her, looking briefly from the containment spell in Diadems hand to the gemstone on the center pedistal. The gemstone felt demonic. Almost as if part of Arcadia somehow.
"The containment spells were on the Inside of the room, on the other side of the door there's nothing written, no warnings, no spells, nothing" Diadem explained "Once we found the seam of the door and pried it open, the containment spells failed"
"Because they werent where we could see them, someone put the containment spells on this side to keep those outside from getting in ?" Spyder asked
"No idea, but these are old spells for sure. I havent seen anything this old, at least predating Queen Flowerfist in terms of age" Diadem said holding up the spell, ancient paper well kept with age was one thing. Looking over the ancient carapace paper Diadem found nothing of who wrote it or why other then to prevent others from finding the gemstone. "Well, we know why the spells failed, it couldnt contain the sounds"
"You mean the drums" Spyder said, Diadem nodded setting the paper aside. "So what happens now ?"
"You still know the spell to go outside of time, right ?" Diadem asked
"Yes, why ?"
"I think..."
"I hope you arent thinking of finding out why the drumming ?"
"I am, yes."
"Great, and why for me to go outside of Time ?"
"Because I have a feeling I am going to be stuck inside for a long time" Diadem said. As she spoke, the drums started again, this time softly
"You think the drums are a lure ?" Spyder asked as the drums ceased once more
"I think the drums are calling to us, you're a demon, I'm a mortal. You are the only one of us everyone wants dead, so if you cast the spell to go outside time, and return home, you wont age, but everything around you will" Diadem said.
"So you go in there, in that thing. And then what ?"
"I think the drums will stop once I go in, when I go inside, I want you to hang onto the gemstone and then hide it somewhere in Arendelle, I dont care where, just hide it where even sound wont get to it or from it" Diadem said
Spyder nodded. Since the gem seemed dormant there didnt appear to be a way to trigger it outright until Diadem stepped closer, a bunch of levers and knobs to turn or work before the gemstone was loosed from the stand. The drums started beating once more, this time harder but still quieter than when they first heard them.
Diadem gently picked the gemstone up, not sure exactly how to go into it she wondered what the command word was, if there was one. Holding the gem she looked around briefly towards Spyder, when her eyes settled on the word, Jumanji. Turning her gaze to the fist sized stone in her hand she said the word aloud. "Jumanji"
Spyder stared as Diadem started to break apart, starting with her fingers and crawling up her arms, her body being torn apart and sucked into the gemstone. That was when Spyder knew the truth.
Jumanni was a part of Arcadia, and it held everything, dreams, nightmares, happiness, horror, heartbreak and betrayal. The gemstone hovered in the air for a moment as the last remnants of Diadem was sucked into its gullet so to speak before heading to the floor.
Reacting fast, Spyder quickly cast webbing to catch the gemstone as the drums suddenly ceased. She knew Jumanji, now that she fully remembered it, the drums. The name of the place, the raw magical power it held within it. But even as she said it loud, infact all but screaming it, she didnt get sucked into the gemstone.
It was as if it knew what she really was. But it gave her a map marker, so to speak. Spyder then remembered, she had a job to do. Setting the gem back on the pedestal she cast on herself a time spell. Freeing her entirely from the effects of Time. Literally throwing herself outside of time for as long as needed.
Then picking up the gemstone Spyder headed for Arendelle. The gem safely wrapped tight in webbing to keep others from getting to it. As she walked she remembered then that Diadem had made her second in command, so in the case of diadems death, Spyder became in command of Arendelles armies.
So as Spyder exited the vast tomb, it became clear something was up, Spyder looked ashen, scared out of her wits. Seeing Spyder exit the cavern alone some of the soldiers wondered what happened to Diadem, their commander before remembering that Diadem had made Spyder, a woman, her second in command. Should Diadem die, Spyder takes over automatically.
Even then the soldiers could not help but ask "What happened to Lady Diadem ?"
"She fell." Spyder replied, making up a rather believable lie on the spot. The men somehow believed her as she spoke, some didnt trust the woman, and Spyder didnt blame them. Diadem was, for all intents at that moment, dead.
"What happened ?" Came the question.
"Cave in, buried her. I tried to dig to her, but I was too late. I had to flee before the cave in took me as well. It was what she wanted." Spyder said, another lie on the bullshit pile. The men accepted her account. When a few made for the cave enterence Spyder raised a hand, thick white web formed on the cave entry "No, do not go in, the ground is unstable, it would not be worth it to lose your own lives looking for her. She wouldnt want that."
In truth, Spyder knew very well where Diadem was. And she knew also how to get to her. But there was still protocol "Honan!"
"Ma'am!" A soldier said stepping into view and saluting.
"I name you my second. Should I perish on a mission, you are to take my stead over command of the armies. Understood ?" Spyder said.
"Understood!" the soldier saluted again and took his place a step behind Spyder and to her right. The soldiers looked to her for orders. Finish clearing out the village while she and Diadem had searched the shrine, it worked, only so far, and then they found the gemstone. She knew its power. It had sucked Diadem, her friend, into the ancient world of Jumanji, a part of Arcadia.
Spyder knew how to get to that location in Arcadia, a massive endless jungle packed with magic born of childrens dreams and adult nightmares so horribly twisted and tempting of everything around it. So rather then get sucked into it by means that Diadem had, Spyder could go there by the Long Road.
Looking to her men Spyder took stock of what had to be done, she had to report Diadems death to the queen, and then leave the kingdom for Arcadia after hiding the gemstone. Both tasks werent easy to do, but doable either way. Taking in every soldier, watching her every move Spider didnt like the limelight. So she said simply "What is the progress of the cleanup ?"
"Nearly finished" came the reply
Spyder nodded "Alright, have the men when they finish, return t otheir unit structure and return for Arendelle" She said to Honan, the man nodded simply "I need to speak to the Queen, but I will aid in the cleanup work." First rule of leadership Spyder remembered, stick with the men for as long as possible. So that they mean something to you. Dont abandon them. Diadems voice echoed in Spyders ears softly.
The men soon got back to work cleaning up the village, destroying Isu worshipper houses and structures. Including the only inn in the town. Bodies were piled high and burned in massive stacks in the streets as the soldiers finally got back into their regiments and headed back to Arendelle as their tasks were finished.
Later that evening Spyder had returned to Arendelle, upon going to the palace with Diadems seal the spider demoness was shown to the queen promptly. Unlike Queen Arenels sisters soldiers, these men knew their orders and never questioned why Spyder returned and Diadem didnt, to them she was the commander in the stead of Diadem.
"What ? What did you say ?" Queen Arenel, Pax to her closest friends, in this case her mother, and her younger brother Jax after her younger sister, Princess Lee died in birth.
"Diadem is dead" Spyder repeated herself.
"Explain it to me how it happened" Pax replied
Spyder detailed her lie, "Diadem and I were cleaning up after a battle within a southern border city. We found a Isu Shrine there. While exploring it a tunnel collapsed, burying Diadem in rubble. By the time I dug her out, she was dead. Before we began to explore the complex, she had given me her seal, and her orders of rank from you."
As much as Pax dreaded the news, she nodded. As she hadnt fully gotten along with Diadems mother, the legendary Yaeko Wolfe when Yaeko took command of the Wolfe family when Pax was fourteen, Diadem she became fast friends with. Finally she nodded "Very well, We will hold a militry funeral for Diadem in three days. Until then I do not want you to leave the city. What are your plans ?"
"I plan simply to try and think on things, being named your army's commanding officer is a rather big deal, I am not sure I can handle it all" Spyder replied "After Diadems funeral services are completed I will inform you of my choice of accepting or declining."
"If you choose to decline, I will have no other choice but to banish you from the kingdom" Pax said
"You wont have to. Should I choose to leave instead of take Diadems place as your commander of your armies, I intend to wander, to find a place far from memory, far from loss. I just lost my best friend. I need to think carefully on what I do next" Spyder said.
Pax then nodded "Very well, in three days I will await your decision on what you wish to do."
Spyder bowed then took her leave. With her was her second in command, the soldier, Honan. As they walked from the castle to the next district, the human man asked Spyder simply "You plan to leave dont you ?"
"How can you tell ?"
"You chose me of all the men to be your second, I am the only one that knows you arent human and you trust me with your secret."
"You dont miss a trick do you, Honan ?"
"Not a thing"
"It is right in your guess, I plan to leave, Diadem didnt die in a cave in. We found this" Spyder then revealed the green and pink gemstone. "Strange sounds came from it. I recognise its make. Its filled with powerful magic of where I am from. The magic of dreams, nightmares, and raw untapped magic. This gemstone is a raw relic of Arcadia"
"The realm of the deepest dream ?" Honan asked
Spyder nodded "You know your history"
"It was said that it was created before even the Isu were worshipped as gods among men. Was this true ?"
"Yes, when mankind first dreamed, and demons first used magic. This was the result of the dreams, the nightmares, and raw magic. It made the sound of drums, it drew us to it." Spyder explained
"And what happened to Diadem ?"
"She went into its raw jungles. She followed the call. I am not worried for her safety just yet, I know how to go to this wild untamed untouched jungle. So in three days I will ask Queen Arenel to name you commander, and allow me to leave in peace" Spyder said. "But first I need to hide this stone somewhere deep, somewhere it wont be found."
Honan smiled "I think I can help with that" He said, he took her then to his families house. Once introducing her to his parents and younger sister he took her to the basement. Once inside he went to the rootceller door and opened it "Dad knows I like to store stuff in here, word gets around that what goes in here is never touched as some of it might be cursed" He opened the rootceller door and the two stepped inside. Activating a switch on the wall Spyder saw row after row of shelves stretching as far as she could see.
"Perfect!" She said as she quickly wrapped the gemstone in soundproofed webbing, enough webbing to completely mask all sound from the gemstone. She then went down to a deep corner and stuck the webbed gemstone in it, and quickly made it look like part of the rootceller. Looking to Honan the man smiled. He had the only key to the place and his father rarely went inside.
Three days later, after Diadem was given a empty coffin funeral with full honors. Spyder was back speaking with the queen. As Pax sat upon her throne she looked to Spyder, with her was a man named Honan, whom Spyder had started over the last three days, referring to as General Honan. "Have you decided ?" Pax asked
"I have" Spyder replied
"Out with it then"
"I name Honan as General of your armies, your highness" Spyder said, Pax stared at her, clearly hoping that Spyder was going to stay on as general of the Arendell armies.
"as it pains me, very well, what do you ask for in return ?"
"That I can leave Arendelle with honor and respect" Spyder said
"You have it" Pax replied, "May your journey lead you to peace." Spyder then bowed to both Pax and General Honan. She then left the throneroom in silence. Quickly disappearing into the kingdom of Arendelle before disappearing to the west and south into the wilderness of dreams.