buttrinthum | TDM #7

Arrival / Enchanted Garden

Whether it be sleep or death, you feel your eyes close, and as your body begins to let go, you see a barn owl that is flying through the darkness, soon sweeping you across the clouded sky. You feel yourself mouth the words, “I wish, I wish..” and utter your deepest and darkest desire.

When you regain consciousness, you’ll find you are in an unfamiliar place with no recognition of how you arrived here. You have the clothes on your back, but nothing else. No weapons and if you had a particular superpower, you’ll notice it is missing. All you have is a satchel with a piece of bread, a vial of water and a potion. The potion could be red, blue or golden. There are no instructions about these potions other than two words: Drink Me.

Will you drink it or not?

There is a parchment, handwritten, and it simply gives you a welcoming:

“Welcome to my Labyrinth. Per our agreement, you have consented to live your life here for an undetermined amount of time. In exchange, I will grant you the wish that you desire the most.”

You’re in a garden, surrounded by flowers and plants– most of which you cannot identify. However, there are a few that you can make out: poinsettias and holly. You’ll soon find out that being around the poinsettias give you an odd sense of joy no matter how confusing the situation may seem and the holly, which is left over from the holiday season, offer different effects - standing too close to blooming holly will encourage a strong desire to be impulsive or try out something they never would have otherwise tried (whether it’s a wild new hobby, or shaving their entire head, or something else).

An Unexpected Blizzard

As harsh temperatures drop across Somnius, the townsfolk seem taken aback by how frigid cold the city is becoming. They expect this year to be chilly, but not exactly this chilly. Seemingly out of nowhere and overnight, a massive blizzard sweeps across the city, piling snow high and trapping Dreamers and townsfolk alike in their dwellings. Perhaps it's not wise to go out -- perhaps it might be better to snuggle up with your housemates instead.

As the day continues, the blizzard roars on, piling more and more snow on top of itself and making the air dense. Those who are adventurous enough to try and leave their dwelling may do so, but it poses as a risk with both high winds and freezing temperatures. Characters who have a fire element from their potion might be suited to be rescuers in this situation. Heat does make the snow melt and keep people warm, after all. They might be someone's only chance for survival, after all.

However, through the dense snow, something is lurking and they are very hard to see. It's the return of the Snow Angels, but because of the intense coldness, appeasing the Snow Angels by offering warmth will not work. Their weapons are drawn and anyone that approaches them at all will be attacked. Unlike last year, heat will NOT hurt the Snow Angels but ironically enough, making snowballs and throwing them at the Snow Angels will ... somehow ward them off. Clobbering Snow Angels with many snowballs will reduce them to just mounds of snow and their sword will vanish into pixie dust.

Any character who gets struck with their sword will risk severe frostbite which can be slowed down and cured by characters with healing abilities.

Trying to Relax

When the blizzard finally subsides, the bitter cold and snow will linger (As will the snow angels, so be careful.) Of course, this means a lot of places will be harder to reach- the path along starlight cliffs, for instance, will be far more treacherous and dangerous to access, and much of Lake Omen will be frozen over.

The path down to the beach, however, is still miraculously clear and easy to traverse- and, more importantly, there's a new path across sheets of ice across the ocean that have frozen over, broken, and refrozen, creating a long ice bridge that leads to a small island. On that island will be found a hot spring, complete with long-abandoned signs of use. This was clearly once an active onsen on this island, and for the most part, the natural warmth of the area has kept the winter cold at bay, meaning the hot springs are still accessible, steamy, and safe for visitors!

There are several springs of varying size and temperature. Anybody who bathes in these springs will find that they’re comforting and relaxing, soothing away the aches and tensions of your muscles and your mind alike. A few people may hear an odd, barely-audible whispering voice or echo on the edge of your hearing while you’re in the water, but don’t worry about that, that’s probably nothing. However, those who bathe in the waters may also notice a few odd side effects:

The most common effect will be uncontrollable emission of steam and bubbles from the bather’s mouth. The steam doesn’t burn them, the bubbles don’t interfere with speech and breathing, but both will be a mildly distracting nuisance until you’ve fully dried off from the spring
Many of the springs will make those who bathe in them feel incredibly refreshed and energized; maybe even too energized. You swear you’re not normally this hyper. Don’t worry, it will wear off after several very productive, very exhausting hours.
Some of the springs will enhance the most dominant personality traits of those who bathe in them. Anxious? Try ‘neurotic wreck.’ Brave? ‘Stupidly reckless.’ Reserved? ‘Completely emotionless.’ You get the idea. On the other hand, others will neutralize those personality traits, returning them to normal or even inverting them entirely. This can last anywhere from a day or two to a couple of weeks.
A few of the springs will induce a unique transformation. Those exposed to it will find that whenever they’re submerged in water, they grow gills and webbed limbs that make them fully amphibious and capable of swimming effortlessly. This transformation doesn’t impair them on dry land, aside from their skin being notably cold and clammy to the touch. Those who are already amphibious or aquatic by nature aren’t visibly affected. This will also last for anywhere from days to weeks.

Those under the effects of any hot spring will find that the mermaids in the unfrozen portions of Lake Omen are no longer as hostile to them. In fact, those affected by the aquatic spring, even those who are otherwise unchanged, will find that the mermaids are quite friendly and very chatty, though an unsettling amount of their conversations seem to revolve around how appetizing your fellow villagers look.

OOC

Welcome to the labyrinthum TDM! Characters will arrive depowered and with only their clothing, and will be given a satchel with a crystal pendant, a communication device, some water and bread and a magic potion. If they drink the potion, they will manifest an elemental, healing or animal transformation ability.

With the exception of Castle Vaeros, characters are free to go as they please, so feel free to place them in any of the locations available on the map. Yes, this includes the Labyrinth - though characters will not be able to clear the maze.

You can find more information about the game here. Any questions regarding the TDM can go under the comment below.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"That is a lot to go through, in a short time--especially since your life is much shorter than my own. But you are strong, to have survived, and stronger still, to rebuild yourself. To learn to do better even more so is admirable."

It had been hard to share for the other, clearly. Loki was still unsure himself why he had shared so much.

"...I'm just stubborn. When I lose, I keep retrying. That's the biggest difference now."

He was still a little embarrassed, but it was all right. He felt strangely better. Maybe it was the spring after all.

"I guess. I just wanted to let you know that it'd be hypocritical of me to not understand serious mistakes."

"Very mature to recognize that. Most don't, or care about it if they do." Loki acknowledged, and offered his approval with a nod of his head.

But they both needed some grounding now, instead of more hard emotions. "When I was little, Mother...that is, Frigga, would do little bits of magic for me. Like casting fireworks over the water."

"It's funny, the small things that can make us smile."

Seto smiled a little at the shared memory, imagining what that must've been like. Life could get painful and complicated, but there were bits of joy to search for even then.

He shifted to sit on his heels, angling up to extend an arm back toward his pile of clothes. On top sat the rectangular locket he always wore, and he opened it to the precious picture inside, holding it out for Loki to see.

"Mokuba and I used to play together to pass the time in the orphanage. This picture was taken on one of our happier days, and he has the other half in a matching locket. I look at it when I need to remember to play a little."

Loki shifted closer to come look at the picture. It was obviously precious, so he wasn't going to take it and risk something happening. It was a very cute picture, and he could maybe see the resemblance a bit to the older boy beside him. "I like him already, if only for that latter fact. You need to have fun sometimes or life is just not worth it." Spoken like the trickster god he was.

But Loki did lean closer, studying the picture--before bringing one hand up to gently touch the edge of the locket. With his other, he made a 'shh' gesture while winking to Kaiba. Then that hand was extended out above the water--and changed so that the water now showed a bigger version of that picture. An illusion, and Loki was letting Kaiba see it.

Seto allowed Loki to touch the locket, looking curiously at the man's expression. Hm...?

And then the image manifested in the water, and he smiled down at the familiar face.

"Mokie..." He squeezed the locket gently, closing his eyes as he cycled through memories. This was who he fought for, this was who was waiting for him.

After a moment he looked back up at Loki. "Interesting spell. Does that have other applications?"

"Depends on what I want it to do. It's basic image transference via illusion--but it's not permanent." Loki let Kaiba have his moment, however long it needed to be. "I'd rather no one know yet that I've got my magic back."

Seto nodded when he was told to keep it secret. "Done. I know how important that edge can be."

He smiled at his brother's image one more time, then waved a hand to indicate it could be dismissed. Closing his eyes, he briefly pressed the locket to his chest before returning it to the clothing pile.

"Thank you. I've missed him a lot...but I think he'd be happy to know I'm not entirely holed up in a tower anymore."

Loki just nods, and dismisses the illusion. Except it doesn't go back to plain water... Drawing from his own memories, there's now a different image on the water's surface. Regal, graceful and stately, with a hint of humor in her eyes and smile.

"I think your brother would be happy too. I...I hope perhaps I've made mother proud. We fought, when I last saw her alive."

Seto studies her face, taking in what he can of those subtle emotions.

"I don't remember much about my parents, but the impression I get is that most parents deeply love their children. There's a good chance she knew. And from what little you've told me about her, just looking at her...maybe I can see it.

Loki was quite a bit more cynical; he'd been left to die after all. Was a runt. But he didn't want to spoil Kaiba's optimism when the boy had clearly had so much already taken from him. So Loki stayed quiet, and focused instead on the image of Frigga.

"She was Queen of Asgard, good, wholly pure. The kind of person you want to believe in you." It was rather telling that Loki's expression was blank and his words carefully controlled.

Seto bowed his head and studied the image...as good as he was at reading into words, emotions behind them were sometimes a little more difficult. So he carried on.

"But no matter what happened then. You're making the choices you want to here and now, aren't you? And there are people here who support you."

'People' including the boy sitting across from him, who looked up and tried to smile. It still didn't quite feel natural, but he meant it.

That statement and attempt to smile honestly meant quite a lot. More than Kaiba might think. Especially since Loki had been getting a lot of encouragement from others that was positive for what he could do. He wasn't the tag-a-long here, or not a proper 'warrior or prince' for not being able to overpower his enemies. Not looked down on, for using magic and trickery and illusion.

It brought a very small smile in return, genuine, to Loki's face. "Thank you." Letting his hand move over the water to dispel the illusion.

TDM #7

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