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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.
good dream
He studies the other children playing from a distance, observing them laughing, running, and enjoying the use of their Quirks. His expression as he watches them is also distant, and faintly confused. When Izuku approaches him, asking him to join in the playing, he allows his hand to be grasped, yet he doesn't go with Izuku. Kurogiri gazes down at his fingers, clasped in the other boy's hand.
After a moment, he shakes his head. His voice, when he speaks, is halting.]
I don't think... I should.
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I'm not supposed to.
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Why not? Did someone tell you you can't? If they did, that's really mean! Having fun with your friends is a good thing! [ He's very insistent about that! ]
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Yes... I have a lot of work to do. [Yet he doesn't sound entirely convinced by his own words.] Having fun is a good thing?
[He takes no issue with the other children, and it looks like they would be fun to play with. However...]
I don't see my friends here. I was looking for them. I don't know where they are.
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Your friends are missing? [ Izuku is instantly concerned about that. ] Then let's go find them! I'll help you! What do they look like?
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Missing... they must be.
[Once the words are uttered, reinforcing the idea, he grows concerned as well. But what—do his friends look like? He has to know this. A vague picture starts to form in his mind.]
They're two boys and a girl. One of the boys has longer black hair that hangs down in his face. The other has blonde hair that sticks up, and wears glasses. The girl has long dark hair, and she wears glasses, too.
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[ Izuku sets off with a new friend in tow! But something about this new friend's description of his friends makes him feel like they are people also familiar to Izuku... Maybe if he had more of a description... ] What are their names? And what's yours? I'm Izuku!
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I'm not—sure where they were...
[He's also not sure why his memories are so fuzzy, like he's just woken up and doesn't really know where he is yet. Fortunately, he is able to remember his friends' names, when asked. It would be strange if he couldn't! Right?]
Shouta and Hizashi and Nemuri. They're really cool, you'd like them.
Me? Oh, I—
[At this, he does hesitate, though he's not sure why. Not knowing his own name would be weirder than not knowing his friends' names.]
I'm Oboro! Nice to meet you, Izuku!
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I think I know them... Shouta... Aizawa, right...? [ That's the one he feels most familiar with.
But he's not familiar with the name Oboro so he smiles wide, pleased to know his new friends name. ] Nice to meet you, Oboro!
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[Oboro nods enthusiastically and smiles brightly, feeling even more reassured by this. Maybe he will find his friends. Although—in the back of mind, he's still sure there's something he should be worried about... He pushes that thought away for now. There doesn't seem to be anything to worry about here.]
Thanks a lot for helping out. Where d'you think we should try looking, Izuku?
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I think they might be here! Does this place look familiar to you?
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I think so.
[He sounds uncertain, but not because he isn't sure whether it's familiar. It's definitely familiar, but the emotions that rise in him at the sight of it are confusing. He suddenly feels nervous.]
Are we allowed to be here?
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[ And he's tugging him off again! ]
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Uh, all right—! Let's go, then.
[When he's tugged onward, he doesn't resist. It doesn't seem wrong that his friends might be in a classroom, although something is off...]
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This is where I sit! And Mr. Aizawa teaches! [ As soon as he says that, he freezes. That's right... He sits here... at U.A. in Class 1-A with Mr. Aizawa as his homeroom teacher... Memory comes flooding back to him and in the blink of an eye, he is no longer a child anymore, now in his current teenager form but dressed in his school uniform.
He blinks over at Oboro because he doesn't recognize him even if he was older... ] Have we... ever met before...?
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[When Izuku shifts into a teenager, he does the same, under the influence of the dream logic and mechanics. He takes a slow step back, disoriented and confused. He's also wearing a U.A. uniform. He smiles at Izuku before glancing around.]
I don't recognize you, sorry. I'm in class 2-A!
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[Although something seems strange about all this. He's not sure what, though, and things look kind of different here. He's still smiling, but he can't get over this nagging sense of uncertainty.]
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[Though the nagging feeling that something is wrong is, if anything, intensifying. However, he answers the questions.]
My quirk's Cloud. I can make clouds—and move them all over the place—make them solid, make them different shapes—and even ride on them.
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Oh, they can go pretty fast. Depends on how fast you want to go.
Why, do you need to go somewhere?
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[Putting on an exaggerated thoughtful expression, Oboro pretends to consider for a moment. Of course, he actually made up his mind immediately, and a moment later, he grins.]
You got it! It's so on.