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

Izuku is out wandering around in the blizzard because he's discovered that his new healing powers are able to help ward off the frostbite that happens when the angels attack people... so he's doing a little dance of popping out to help however he can then popping back in to warm himself up then popping back out to help again. It's a LOT colder than it ever gets in Japan so he's made sure to bundle himself up as best he can! He can't really fight the angels as well as he could have if he had his quirk... but he can still help people get away by using himself as a distraction! He's fine with it, he'll just heal himself if he gets hit!

He's not sure what to make of it when what looks like a polar bear comes lumbering into view in front of him... but then he sees the person riding on the polar bear's back and his face lights up with a big smile. It's not a polar bear, she's a polar bear dog, and Izuku knows her and the person on her back!

"Naga! Korra!"

She gives him a friendly enough wave.

"Hey Izuki! What are you doing out here?"

And Naga makes a whuffing sort of sound, her way of greeting.

"Just doing what I can to help out! I'm still getting the hang of my new healing quirk... or, er, I guess you just call them powers here...? But I found out it helps with the cold! It doesn't feel right just sitting around when people might be in trouble...

So this is Naga, huh...? I'm glad to finally meet you both in person!" Oh gosh, he wants to reach out a pet Naga so much but he's not sure if that would be rude or not...

"That's a super useful ability to have!" She replies, enthusiastically.

And as if she doesn't know what he wants to do.

"Naga! Go meet the nice person!"

And she gives her an encouraging pat, which is all the polar bear dog needs to trot over, tail wagging like a flag.

"It is! I'm glad it lets me do something to help other people!" And himself because he has the unfortunate tendency to damage himself going overboard sometimes... He's better about it at least...?

Izuku waits for Naga to approach him, reaching his hands out with glee and stroking her fur a few times. "Oh wow... So soft! I bet your coat really helps keep you warm in the cold, huh, Naga?"

"You better believe it," she says, casually lifting herself up onto Naga's back and leaning forward with crossed arms onto her shoulders.

Naga, for her part, responds to the petting with a big old lick, which brings a laugh out of Korra.

"Uh-oh, be careful or she'll be hoping for treats next."

Izuku laughs at getting licked, giving Naga a hug in return. "I hope that means she likes me! I'm sorry, Naga, I don't have any treats! What kinds of treats does she like? So I know for next time!"

"Oh trust me," she replies, scritching Naga between her ears, "if she didn't like you, you'd know it."

"And she is a huge fan of any jerked meat."

"Uh oh... Does that mean I'd be a Naga snack myself...?" He means it half jokingly... but he's also wondering if she'd actually take a bite out of anyone she didn't like...

"Got it! Sorry, Naga, I don't have anything like that on me now... but I'll bring you some next time, how about that?" He looks up at Korra to make sure that would be okay first!

She laughs, shaking her head.

"You'll be fine. And she very rarely has had to actually bite anyone or anything...frankly, that's her last resort when she can give bad guys a good smack with her big ol' paws."

And she nods at his request.

Izuku takes a moment from rubbing his hands against Naga's side to give her some good scritches and looks down at her feet. She does have really big front paws... "They look like they'd pack a real punch if she did smack someone with them!"

"Yup," she replies, with a grin. "She's also a fair side smarter than most of the people I've had to fight, too."

"I bet she helps being around in cold weather too. You can curl up against her to stay warm! Was your home in a cold place, Korra? Or did you find her traveling somewhere else? In my world, polar bears are always found in cold places."

"Heh, yep." She replies. It does help.

"And yeah, I'm from near the south pole of my world. Ice and snow are absolutely features."

TDM #7

Blizzard!

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