buttrinthum | TDM #9

Entry tags:

!tdm

TDM #9

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 in scrawling, jagged lettering that seems a bit... ominous:

“Welcome to my LABYRINTH where your wish, you wish you wish youwishyouwish– Your CONTRACT is SEALED.”

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: Larkspur and Anemone You’ll soon find out that being around the Larkspur makes you almost overwhelmingly tired, to the point you might even feel sluggish and in desperate need of a comfy place to rest. Why not lie down right in the garden? Or better yet, find someone to snuggle up with and sleep your worries away. The only truly strange part? You don’t seem to dream. At all. Straying too close to the Anemones, meanwhile, grants an entirely different effect. One second you’ll be walking through the garden and then suddenly you’re twenty feet away and facing the wrong direction. Even worse, whatever those flowers have done to you will sometimes make it so you “glitch” through solid objects – your leg might suddenly be lodged in the ground despite it being perfectly solid a moment before, or your arm could be shoved halfway into a wall that… actually, was that wall even there before? Nevermind that. The effects only last for a few minutes at worst, so at least you’re not stuck there forever, right?

Liminal Spaces and Worn Out Faces

Thanks to the combined efforts of dreamers and dragons, Vaeros is asleep. No one knows for how long. The locals aren’t particularly pleased with this turn of events and the village is a mess, but at least the moon is high in the sky again and everything is back to normal… relatively speaking. Things start to change... morph into something more dreamy, more surreal. It's subtle at first but after a few days…

The aftermath of the overgrowth, animal attacks, and the overall chaos of Vaeros' tantrum has left the village a little worse for wear. While most of the damages are cosmetic and could be fixed by the local's efforts alone, maybe a little help would be appreciated? If nothing else, it might help alleviate a little bit of the tension still lingering in the air after the events at the castle.

That, and the locals seem to be acting kind of strange. Leaving them to their own devices might not be the best idea. The Gelfling you are aiding in repairing a half-broken wall has been hammering for what seems like hours and when you look to see what they're doing, they haven't actually made any progress - they're just hitting the same spot over and over again, potentially making the hole even bigger. Did the goblin you just passed have a completely blank face for a moment? Others might walk into things, off of things (Starlight Cliff might be a hazard zone), or suddenly and inexplicably become aggressive toward dreamers, grabbing anything they can get their hands on (kitchenware, vegetables, a goose??) to use as a weapon. It's a very bizarre scene and the villagers don't seem to notice there is anything wrong with the people around them.

It’s not just the locals either. The animals have been acting equally strange. There's a wolf inside the clothing shop trying on suits, a goat standing (or trying to stand) on its hind legs, bleating out random words like a town crier while jingling a bell around its neck to get everyone's attention. Where you should find the local baker, suddenly they're replaced with a deer holding a paddle in its mouth to stir up a batch of brownies.

To top it all off, there's an eerie sense of deja vu no matter where you go or what you do. Didn't you just help that goblin with the wheelbarrow an hour ago? So why is it halfway across town again? You could have sworn you had to go and grab groceries, but your pantry is full like someone already had.

Up is Down, In is Out

Days pass and the oddities continue to make themselves more and more apparent. The sidewalks seem uneven and wobbly at times, threatening to toss people walking across them to the ground or even fling them into the air with a sudden violent ripple. Walking through the forest sees the leaves of the trees melting into green goo that sticks to your clothes, your hair, and your skin - potentially staining them green and leaving you in dire need of a bath. You can always wash off in the lake, of course, but even that is not free of the strangeness occurring in Visium. The water of Lake Omen has turned to lava, at least in color; although there is no heat radiating from it when one approaches. That, and the locals are still fishing in it without issue, save the fact that they keep pulling up fish with tophats on.

Speaking of fish - they're raining from the sky now (tophats or not) in all sorts of different colors, shapes, and sizes. Good news! They're still edible. Bad news, they're probably trying to sell you something.

If you do decide to try the fish or any other meal in town, especially those served by the locals, you'll find that it doesn't taste like much of anything and most certainly doesn't fill you up, at least not at first. Everything is bland and unappealing until left in the presence of dreamers - and the more you share the meal with, the faster the taste returns.

Dream Within a Dream Within a Dream Within a Dream Within

Even with Vaeros asleep, only a small portion of the labyrinth is still accessible. Those that attempt to explore will find sections made up of pillows and cushions, and no matter what time of day it is elsewhere, this portion of the labyrinth seems to be stuck in perpetual twilight. Explorers will also immediately feel drowsy, then lulled to sleep by the quiet singing whispered through the air like a lullaby. Anyone brave enough to try and rescue those poor souls from their impromptu naps would be wise to plug their noses and cover their ears with earmuffs to block out the sound.

At night, dreamers dream. They will be visited by the same melody heard in the labyrinth, though it is distant. They will also hear a woman telling them to spend more time together, to bond and create things together in order to soothe the effects of Vaeros' magic growing wild in his dreams. Dreamers will also have the ability to visit other's dreams, meeting in a dreamy light liminal space that will not feel so real when they awaken.

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

1. Liminal Spaces and Worn Out Faces

[Chise had expected, after everything at the Castle, that her life here would return to a relative sense of normal. Not... this. Currently standing just inside the door of a shop, prepared to grab some spices for later cooking, she couldn't do much except stare as an overly fluffy sheep - standing on its hind legs - sold a bag of parsley to one of the local Gelflings, who left the store without saying a word. She watched silently for a moment as the sheep just stared straight ahead, wondering when exactly the staff had changed, when someone bumped into her quite forcefully from behind.]

"Oh, excuse me..." [Turning around and making room, she saw the exact same Gelfling enter the store and, over the next two minutes, proceed to make the exact purchase they had just left with. When the Gelfling entered the store for the fourth time, Chise let out a sigh, giving a small bow as she left back through the doorway.] "I'll... come back another time." [Not that she much expected an answer...]

2. Up is Down, In is Out

[The girl stood beneath a small overhang, watching as fish upon fish upon fish bounced harmlessly from the sky, plopping onto the ground. Fish of strange colors, some with hats, some that looked normal and some that reminded her of something other. She couldn't even admit that this was the strangest thing she had seen in her life... but she had finally given in and bought an umbrella from one of the nearby stands. Still, would it hold up to the force of the falling fish enough for her to get home?]

"I've heard of the expression 'raining cats and dogs', but this feels a bit too literal..."

[On top of that, whenever she did muster up the courage to leave the overhang, she kept getting turned around in alleyways. What way was her Cottage? Hadn't she just passed that shop, or the Gelfling that wasn't remarking on the falling fish? Why did it feel like something was watching her?]

3. Dreams Within Dreams - CW: potential nightmares, child abandonment, talk of bullying

[Despite the relative unease she felt throughout the day, Chise had no trouble falling asleep. The faint sounds of a lullaby carried to her on the wind, a humming so familiar that she was asleep within moments of her head hitting the pillow.]

"Mom?" [A whisper, uncertain and confused, before sleep took her entirely.]

[If you ended up somewhere within Chise's dreams, you are in one of two places.

The first is an empty space, lit by some unknown light source and a void broken up only by a table and two chairs - one of which Chise occupies. She looks lost in thought, glancing around every so often for someone that - may or may not - be you. There is a flickering in the dark every so often, a breaking of the space - maybe its static, maybe its a converging cloud of darkness not given full shape. Either way, it keeps its distance, unable to break through even her own lack of consciousness.]

"It's so quiet..."

[The second dream looks to be within a standard Japanese school. Classrooms with closed doors line the hallway, and looking out the windows reveals several mish-mashed landscapes: a forest, a local park, and - further in the distance - a small, worn-down country house.

The Chise you meet here is smaller, younger. Tiredness lays beneath her emerald gaze, wary as she notices you from around the corner. Her clothes two sizes too large, a frown on her face, but she doesn't run. She doesn't look like she knows you either...]

Or, have another idea? Feel free to message this journal ^_^

[ Kaiba's about had it with today. He's grabbed an umbrella and is trying to fend off the fish with it, but those bouncing sounds are just weird.

He spots someone else turned-around and confused, and offers her the umbrella for a small reprieve. ]

Come on. Staying out here's not going to help.

[Her eyes widened a bit at the offering - she could barely hear him over the downpour of fish - but she nodded.]

"Right. Thank you." [Stepping beneath the umbrella, though mindful to not take up too much space.] "I take it this isn't normal for around here?"

[Chise had only been here for a few weeks, but she didn't remember seeing fish fall from the sky. Or any of the other changes that were slowly starting to meld into the waking hours. Just after the Castle...]

[ Kaiba's careful as he walks with her, bouncing the fish out of the way. It's a nuisance to keep stepping over them. ]

Normal's a relative term, but...even by the standards of this place it's beyond bizarre. It's like reality's fraying at the seams.

"That actually is a good way to put it."

[Lost in thought, she narrowly avoided stepping on another fish. It squeaked out a small 'hey!' in protest before flopping down the road, top hat still firmly attached to its head.] "The Hyalily potion was supposed to put Vaeros to sleep, right? So... maybe reality is fraying. Or... something like a dream is leaking in?" [Musing as they walked, though after a moment she blushed in embarrassment.] "I'm sorry, that might not make much sense, at least when I haven't met you before. I'm Chise. I... was studying under a Magus before I came here, so what's happening is strange, but not too much out of the ordinary." [Well, the raining fish was a bit much, but she didn't want to alarm him for no reason.]

Chise Hatori | Ancient Magus' Bride | Current player, current character

raining cats and dogs

no subject

no subject

no subject

Liminal spaces

no subject

no subject

no subject

Dream within dreams

no subject

no subject

Vague spoilers for Season 1 end of AMB

Dreams, Tiny Chise in the school

((Yay! ^_^))

no subject

no subject

dreams within dreams

((I'm so sorry Gamora she had to have a knee jerk reaction XD T.T))

she can handle it!

((My apologies for the delay!))

2. Up is Down, In is Out

(Mun might be squeeing happily ^_^)

( hehe ♥ )

no subject