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buttrinthum2024-04-30 10:34 pm
TDM #9
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:
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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My nephew. Don't worry, he surprises many people. But he really is a sweet boy.
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[ Inigo does approach a little, even if the young man still looks apprehensive about this entire situation.. But it's not like he's impolite enough to just ignore a clear invitation like the way he is being waved over here.
He's still staring with very wide eyes though. ]
I mean, I.. I suppose that is possible. [ Not like Inigo hasn't seen dragon-people before in his world, after all. Or bunny-people. Who's to say this isn't just some sort of snake-person like them? ] Even though I must say your nephew seems rather..
[ ...
He's probably trying to figure out how to put this diplomatically. He doesn't want to be mean, just because he's pretty surprised by all this! ]
.. large?
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[Which is, well, maybe a little bit obvious.
But the rather blatant observation still made him snicker, even as he kept his voice quiet. Not that the sleepers would be waking.]
Did you think a snake demon would be the size of an ordinary garter snake?
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Okay. Nope, nope!! Nope, he's not going to think about that, especially since Inigo can feel his face starting to grow red with fluster in a super rapid fashion over here. He quickly shakes his head, attempting to fully shake the feeling off. ]
I-- I've never heard of a snake demon before! This is my first time seeing anything like this!
[ At least he's being honest about that. Sure, Grima back home had been large and monstrous, but that was neither a snake nor a demon.. Whatever a demon might be, really. ]
.. Actually, now you mention it, I don't even know how I'm here..! [ .. apparently he truly did only realise that just now.. ]
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However, the blushing was entertaining.]
No? Probably for the best. Zhuzhi-lang was quite hideous before I helped him take a prettier form. All patchworked between man and serpent. Rather painful to look upon. But quite cute once he got it all sorted out.
[As though summoned by his thoughts, the serpent shifts and is replaced by a slender youth with braids in his hair and scales on his cheeks. There's a resemblence between uncle and nephew, but it isn't strong.]
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Well, that's.. at least a little bit easier to look at, even though Inigo still definitely looks very confused in the face of everything that's going on here. He blinks a few times, but then shakes his head - as if to try and get rid of the confusion enough to at least speak. ]
Ah, that's.. good?
[ It sounds like it's good? He isn't really sure, this situation is still pretty overwhelming! Especially when he's only now realising that the other is apparently someone capable of turning huge animals into people. ]
Though that must mean you are very powerful.
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He nodded without hesitation, confirming the suggestion.]
Of course I am. This lord would not have lived so long if he were not.
[Animal. Ha.]
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[ This seems like more magic than any mage Inigo knows is capable of, after all. And in his world there truly is nothing a level above that. All there is otherwise, the only being he knows that's capable of doing impossible things like this-- It's definitely only a god. ]
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Some demons might think so, but I doubt you would ever get the heavens to agree. It's possible an ancestor was, before they were tossed down, but I wouldn't know.
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So he tries real hard to place those words in his mind, and then-- ]
How come you are this powerful then?
[ That's the part that's mostly confusing to him. ]
Only a divine dragon would have that sort of power where I come from. Even mages would not be able to do things like that.
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As for your question, I believe people have been wondering that for centuries.
[He laughed, finding the boy amusing.]
Often shouted at great volume after they've suffered a defeat.
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Inigo's mind needs a moment to catch up with that wording, but then it slowly seems to catch up enough to form the thought of: ]
So no one knows?
[ Feels like it.. ]
Wait, do you not even know it yourself?