So, my 2 cents is that we let the discussion go on (hopefully it will continue) until this Sunday, then we hit the unpause and start rolling. So, please get your ideas out and look at ego's list asap.
And it seems like several people would like to help, but don't really care with what. So, if you guys are looking for a project director of some sort, we can be figuring that out soon as well.
Also, I've been asking if anyone has objections to changing previous areas made by other contributors. I would prefer to get individual permission to proceed just so no one gets their toes stomped on, but so far that hasn't happened. So, if no one voices any major reasons why we shouldn't go ahead and modify existing areas, then I will be going ahead with my for-mentioned remodel of Lab 3 next week.
@AClockworkLemon, ego posted a list that I think is pretty complete yet short, so take a look at that.
@green.cookie, I'm trying to follow your story line, but your writing style is very clipped. Here's what I'm getting. I don't think it is quite what your saying, so I suppose I'm adding to it, but it makes a certain since to me:
Backstory: There once was a land which was always kept in spring by a powerful Spring Goddess. The people of her land, however, grew powerful and forgot the Spring Goddess. This weakened her influence and the Winter God was able to plunge the land into eternal winter.
That is a nice myth perhaps explaining the statues and the climate. I'm not sure it explains why the Goddess statues themselves are surrounded by ice. Perhaps this is a region that, by all natural explanations, shouldn't be a tundra, which is why the Labs where set up. They found the statues and found that somehow the climate was related. I kinda like that. Still, so far the modern tech areas seem to be about teleportation, so it would be interesting to tie that in. Perhaps the "gods" are actually situated in another dimension and the statues link to that dimension? And if all this is true, the goal might not be just to get wood, but Juni might get caught up in an ancient struggle between these two gods.
So, enter Juni. I like the idea that Juni came to this area rather than being a resident because I simply don't like the idea that she is just now exploring the labs for the 1st time, even though they are relatively close to her small home. So, she may simply have come upon the cabin in one of her many adventures, run out of wood, and started looking for more. Then she finds the labs, the backstory, etc. Chosen one stuff is not my personal favorite either; it's just not very interesting. An outsider stumbling in and "accidentally" solving the regions problems... I can deal with that much more.