buttrinthum | TDM #9

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!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

Peeta. [Does...hearing one's own name help to ground them? Eren's not sure.]

My name's Eren. I've been here a while now. [He considers telling Peeta that "it's not always like this," but...it can honestly get a lot worse, and Eren's not sure if the world he knew will ever be the same again. There's no use lying to the guy.

[Well, when in doubt...]

When's the last time you ate? Are you hungry?

Eren.

[He repeats the name breathlessly. Eren's presence, at least, is something normal, something solid and real. Wait, no, he's not real. This is all a dream, right?]

Hungry?

[He's been hungry plenty in his life, but right now, he can't even fathom it. He's disoriented and his body is still in a flight state, suppressing all appetite.]

Not really. Are you?

Eh...[Well, his one and only trump card has been effectively squashed. Is this going to be the third time he lets some random guy over to his house to clean off? Worked out okay the first couple of times, actually - not the point. He has got to stop being so goddamn nice all the time.]

No, I'm fine. You wanna go get cleaned up at least? [With a bucket on the porch.] I'm just trying to help you out, man. Why don't you tell me what you need?

[So fucking nice! Why is he always so fucking nice?!]

[He nods quickly. If there's one thing Peeta is good at, or used to be good at, it's making allies. That's been the main way he's survived before, so he's not going to give it up now.]

Sorry. Yeah, I'd really like to get out of here.

[Now that the panic has worn off, the goo just feels really, really gross and uncomfortable.]

[This guy may as well be a mouse. Eren pushes himself up off the ground, then offers a hand to help Peeta up.]

I'll give you a ride back to my place and bring you something to clean up.

[Peeta takes the other boy's hand, his own grip very strong, and pulls himself to his feet, careful not to slip in the sludge and embarrass himself a second time.]

Oh, it's okay, I can go to my own place...

[Yes, might as well be a mouse, even if he is stronger and more cunning than he seems.]

[Eren blinks, looking a bit surprised, albeit subdued.]

Well, shit. You've already got a place to stay and everything. Could have fooled me. [At least he's competent. Thank God.

[Eren's at a bit of a loss. No one's ever accused him of having tact. He figures he might as well just ask.]

What in the Hell were you freaking out about, then? Are you used to poison goo where you're from or something?

Uh... Yeah, I am, actually.

[He rubs the back of his neck.]

I had a close call with poison fog once that was excruciating. There was also a deadly black goo that came down in a tidal wave. So... I guess that's what it reminded me of.

[That goo had triggered him to kill a member of his squad, and attempt to throw Katniss in as well. He clasps his own wrist and rubs it. There are scars circling each of his wrists from the cuffs.]

Shit. [Makes sense, yeah. Of course the goo would freak him out, in that case.] It sounds like you come from a cruel place. A lot of people here do.

It might be a nice break for you, even if it doesn't seem that way now. [Eren...didn't always feel that way about Somnius, but some things have changed now...Once, he would have done anything to leave this place; now, he'd do anything to stay.]

Don't get me wrong, though. What's happened to you is completely fucked. I know you didn't ask to be here. None of us did, no matter what bullshit you hear about wishes and contracts.

Yeah. You could say that again.

[A break from a cruel place... The thought had crossed Peeta's mind, but he felt sort of guilty for it. He's taking a break in a dreamworld while Katniss and the rebels fight in a war. While Prim is... Is Prim even alive?

Then again, they're all better off without him, anyway.]

I could use a break, I guess... I don't know.

[He feels a lot of conflicting stuff. His brain feels like it's been broken and jumbled since the hijacking, and just as he was starting to sort it, he was thrown into this confusing place.]

I haven't had time to sort my thoughts.

[Or anyone to help sort them, either, which he'd been really relying on... Finnick helped him a lot...]

Well, I'll answer you what questions I can.

Whatever time you spend here, it won't pass back home, so take the break while you can. That's what everyone tells me, anyway.

[That being said, if someone here arrives from Peeta's future - or if the Labyrinth ever decides to show Peeta his future like it did Eren - what goes on back home will become a more complicated question.]

Oh.

[So, if he goes back... He'll be in the midst of getting bombed, at the height of a war. Will he even live through that? If he survives, will he be glad he did, or will he still wish for the other outcome?

Even now, is he alive?]

Does anyone come here after they die?

[A glance, weighted.] Yeah. They can.

Once they leave this place after that. [Ah. Familiar coldness seeps in deep. Eren looks forward, expression flat and even.] Then, they're just dead, I guess.

[Peeta observes Eren's change in demeanor as he talks about this. Maybe he lost someone that way...]

I might have died, but I'm not sure. Is there any specific way to know?

[He lost someone that way - someone whose blood is on his hands.]

You don't remember?

What's the last thing?

The last thing I remember is an explosion. I don't know if I blacked out or died.

[Yikes. Even Eren wants to wince at that, though he stops himself.]

Sorry, but as far as I know, the only way you'd be able to find out is if someone from your future told you. It's possible that others might be here from your world, or might show up. And they can be from any point in your life.

Oh. Yeah, I met my mentor here. I don't think he was from the future, though. He didn't seem to know.

Sounds like you're shit out of luck, if that's the case. [Not the most sensitive of responses, but that's Eren.]

I guess so. Unless there's someone else I haven't seen yet.

[If Haymitch was here, that means any of them could be... Even Katniss. He's not sure how he feels about that.]

Could be. [There's...some vague bitterness, maybe, to his voice.]

There's no use in lying to you. Everyone here is temporary.

If there's someone here from your world, they can leave at any time. Me myself? I'm trying to change that.

I will change that.

Oh. Okay.

[He nods. He's just taking anything he's told as fact, in this place. And Eren seems pretty certain about this.]

If you need any help, let me know.

[He might as well try to make himself useful, in between the times he's freaking out and almost decking people.]

[Pretty agreeable guy. Eren doesn't necessarily trust it. His eyes narrow on Peeta, doubtful for the first time.]

We all need the help. We all want the choice as to whether we come or go. ["I want you to care what I want." How couldn't he want that?]

Don't accept what's happened to you. We fight back.

[Peeta isn't sure if he's done something to garner this suspicion, but he's pretty used to people acting this way, as most tributes and victors are like that.]

We should all have that choice, yeah. Like I said, I'll help you fight it.

[Autonomy to make choices like that, to be your own person, is important to Peeta too. He's familiar with how it feels to have that choice taken away.]

We're on the same side, then. That makes us allies.

TDM #9

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lmao at s4 eren "I would never do something nice" vs. this

cries I know

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cw suicidal ideation

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oh my goddd they were alliessss...

omgggggg

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