buttrinthum | TDM #9

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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

"Well, not an arena is good news. And those flowers not being deadly is a good start." He sits heavily on the log, rubbing his eyes as he becomes a little more alert.

Wherever they are, if Haymitch is with him and isn't drunk, they'll survive.

"Is Katniss here? Or Gale?"

He almost asks about Finnick too, then remembers they lost him a few days ago, and a pang of grief hits him in the chest.

Haymitch makes no promises about not being drunk. Or, well, about being completely sober, anyway. Even though it's not an arena, and it's not Panem, he still can't sleep without the images creeping in. Sometimes he needs something to take the edge off.

Sober enough to keep them alive, he can promise that.

"It's just us."

Sober enough will have to be good enough for Peeta. He only really insisted on complete sobriety when there was real work or training to do. And if this isn't an arena and they're not going into one imminently, he's not too worried.

"I guess that might be for the best." He was getting very exhausted trying to keep a grip on his sanity around Katniss.

"The last thing I remember is an explosion in the Capitol centre. Right outside Snow's mansion. They were bombing the Capitol's own kids."

He doesn't have as steady of a supply of alcohol here, either, so he has to ration it. Just enough to keep the demons at bay. There are fewer of them, not being in Panem anymore, but the fingers still creep in, and he hasn't yet found another way to be rid of them for any length of time.

Haymitch gets a grim look on his face. He's conflicted about those events. It's absolutely a tragedy what is happening to those children -- certainly not a tactic he had advocated for, the death of innocents -- but it's also about time that the Capitol knows what the Districts go through. If only there were some other way to do it.

"An unfortunate event. The children did nothing wrong."

Peeta's now less-droopy eyes search Haymitch's face. He doesn't look happy.

"Yeah. They didn't deserve that, and it came from a Capitol aircraft... I don't know why they would bomb their own children."

Does Snow's cruelty really extend that far? What would be the advantage of doing something like that? He has a hard time wrapping his head around it. It was all so... Senseless.

"Don't you?" Haymitch understands exactly why they would do that, because he understands how the Capitol works. How Coriolanus Snow works, specifically. But he has more than two decades of experience at playing the Capitol's games, and Peeta does not.

"They're at war, and they have to have something to feed the propaganda machine."

Peeta's been fed a lot of Capitol brainwashing rhetoric, and while he's sorted a lot of it out, some lingers enough to dampen his critical thinking skills.

"You mean they'll blame the rebels for it?"

"You know that it was a Capitol craft that did it because you saw it. Anyone who wasn't there to see it in person will know whatever the Capitol tells them."

That's exactly what he means.

Peeta nods. It makes sense now. They tortured him for propos, of course they'd kill children for them too. Snow isn't the type of man who cares if it's Capitol children or District, as long as it benefits him.

"How'd I get from there to here?"

Maybe a hovercraft came while he was out?

"That I don't know." There are some thing he hasn't managed to find out yet, though that doesn't mean he doesn't intend to try. "No one does, from what I've heard."

It seems there's a lot Haymitch doesn't know right now, which is unusual. Usually he knows everything but just isn't all that willing to share, but Peeta can tell that's not the case here.

"No one? Who else is here?"

Peeta looks around. The garden is quiet. What's outside of here? Other rebels? It seems too peaceful to be anywhere near the warzones... Or even anywhere in Panem. There's a different air about it. A lightness, a surreal quality.

"People from all over." Places he's never heard of, though that's not really a surprise, seeing as there's never any news from outside of Panem. There's hardly any acknowledgement that there are places other than Panem. "People who are brought here, somehow, who don't remember how they got here, and some natives, who don't seem to mind the influx of strangers." At least from what he's been told.

Natives? What does that mean? Panem natives, and the strangers are from elsewhere? They were always told there were no people outside of Panem, but that could have been a lie as well. Or are Peeta and Haymitch the strangers?

He sighs, putting his face in his hands and rubbing it.

"I'm confused. But I guess that's nothing new."

"We don't seem to be in Panem anymore, though I don't know where we are, or how we got here. At least, none of the people I've talked to know any of that." There's probably someone somewhere who has the answers, but Haymitch is sure that they're not just going to let that information get out to everybody.

Not in Panem anymore... That news strikes him oddly. He feels relief. No war here, no threat of the Capitol taking him again? No chance he'll kill Katniss with his bare hands?

Just this... Weird garden... And Haymitch's steady explanations.

"I think I can live with that."

"You know what? So can I." Nothing and no one trying to kill them, not having to walk a tightrope to avoid saying the wrong thing, or be Snow's puppet. It sounds almost peaceful. If such a thing is even possible.

Peeta smiles, even exhales a tiny laugh at the levity of both of them being suddenly freed, despite the strangeness of the circumstance. Who knows how long this would last before they'd be dumped back in Panem, either, but it could be a little break.

He pulls little bits of grass from the ground, fidgeting absently.

"You find anything to drink here?"

He assumes that Peeta either isn't asking for himself, or isn't asking about the same kind of drink that Haymitch tends to prefer. Either way, the answer is the same. "Not yet."

"Hm." Peeta's not sure if that's good or bad. Haymitch probably isn't happy about it.

"Speaking of drinks, did you give me that potion? The blue one?"

Haymitch indeed isn't happy about it, but this isn't the first time he's been denied something to drink. Nor has he finished looking, if he were being honest.

"I didn't. Everyone gets one when they arrive here. I got one too."

"Oh, huh. Mine didn't seem to do anything. Did yours?"

He'd sort of thought it was what made him sleepy, but that was apparently the flowers.

"I don't know. I haven't taken it yet." Unlike Peeta, Haymitch didn't default to help from a sponsor but rather to suspicion about what someone might be up to, so had decided to keep his until he has more information. He knows that it could turn out to be useful, so he hadn't destroyed it, but he won't drink it until he knows it's not a hindrance either.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TDM #9

I'm so glad! (I play Finnick too heheh)

another good choice. our poor Panem peeps

forreal

Haymitch just wants to be left in peace, jeez

LET HIM REST

seriously

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