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

If you're not good at it, you should definitely not do it! It's just something I picked up from a friend.

[There were plenty of days where she really missed Gus. For right now, she'd have to hope he might show up one day].

Pretty much. We all see the owl before we show up here...and its all connected to the wish that we made.

[Luz made sure to stay relatively low enough so Clementine can see if he's anywhere in the ground, but she's also checking the trees when she could].

I've crashed a couple of times in cars. I don't need to add to that with getting hurt falling off flying on a staff. But -- ah, so that wasn't just me with the weird dream.

[She's not sure what to make of that. It wasn't an awful dream, as far as potential nightmares of hers tend to go. But even so. She does worry regarding AJ. Wants to be sure that he is alright after the crash. She tries to keep an eye out, biting her lower lip with worry as she glances down.]

I just assumed, if I was here, he probably was too. Somewhere. I just hope he's alright. I didn't mean to crash, but there were so many walkers.

No, no one should just start doing that without getting a bunch of practice in first, that's for sure. But I hear what you're saying. We'll stick to doing things the regular way.

Unfortunately, no. It's something we all had to deal with.

[Luz's eyes narrow, and she's happy that Clementine can't see her doing this. Her assumption is that AJ was left behind, as she'd never heard of people coming here together. But she'd still have to try and hope for better].

Walkers? What are those?

Walkers. You know....uh....the dead not staying dead? Biting people. There were a fair few of them and I crashed the car when we were driving. That's the last I remember.

[So she has to hope that AJ is around somewhere too. That he is alright. Maybe he was just hiding? Scared of the crowds since there seem to be quite a few people around? She knows how he can be when scared. Hopes if he is around somewhere he won't lash out and hurt someone, bite them or something.]

[Luz winced].

You deal with actual zombies. Ugh. That's something that might actually creep me out a little bit. I've heard stories about some that have come here, so uh. Just be on alert about what's happening around here.

But that's not a usual thing, zombies. I hear there are some mean wolves that tend to come back though.

[Maybe that will put some of her fears at ease]?

You have walkers here? I hadn't seen any so far. But I guess, there's the chance. Everyone back home is infected. So. If something happens to me. If I died.

[Just. As a warning. So the other is aware. The wolves are not so much of a reassurance given she had been bitten by a dog and needed to take care of that injury herself years ago. She can't help being a little nervous on that. She keeps alert, glancing down for any sign of AJ or these wolves.]

I think they just call them zombies, but I haven't seen them myself yet. Things is, this place doesn't tend to bring out the same things we have to fight. So if they brought zombies for a bit, they won't come back. It'll be something different. That's what the labyrinth does.

[And notice how Luz didn't say it made any sense. Because it doesn't].

Are you sure? I mean, absolutely sure that you did?

[Luz is somewhat familiar with thinking that, after all].

So...no walkers? Not again?

[Except perhaps her. If she died here. Clementine assumes anyway that even being in this dream or whatever it was, that she would still have the virus. Still be infected and turn. Unless someone mercy killed her before she turned and had the chance to bite someone else and start an outbreak here.]

Everyone. Once we die, we turn. Bite others. I'm not sure anyone is immune. So. I assume if I die, unless someone kills me before I turn. Makes sure.

[Which. Dark. She knows. But she puts it out there. At the least, if Luz knows, if something did happen and Clementine were to die the other might be able to help. For now, she tries to focus on looking for AJ.]

Maybe he's hiding from the crowds....?

Shouldn't be.

[Luz would definitely know a thing or two about dying and being unable to change the circumstances leading up to that. But Luz was definitely missing pieces about her new friend, and for right now is just trying to reunite her with her missing...whatever].

That's messed up, so let's just assume you're all right for the moment. After all, I'm sure if you're ravenous and try to bite me, I'll know how to stop you.

[She DID, but she really hoped that was not what was happening here].

That's possible, but I feel like he'd try to let you know where he was so you could reach him, right?

Maybe. I just figure, if people are aware we can be careful. Can try be prepared. Just in case.

[Clementine figures it is better to be safe. Rather than things escalating that she does die and still turns. If she can ensure others are aware to be careful, to make sure she is dead and won't turn if something did happen. That seems better. Still, she glances down, lips pursed.]

Hm. I don't know. Back home, you generally try not to attract attention. With the walkers and all. And the survivors are usually kind of desperate and dangerous as well.

This place does do its best to get people there, promise! But so many things tend to happen at a time, it's hard to be ready for it all.

[She hadn't even mentioning that if you died here, you wouldn't stay dead. One thing at at time. Getting to understand all of this was hard enough, after all].

Ok, so its definitely not that bad around here. For the most part, people are trying to help each other out. That doesn't mean you don't run into some real characters, but we do try to defend anyone we can if we have the means.

I'm pretty sure after being ready for walkers I will be ready for almost anything.

[Probably. She hopes. She is relieved if people here seem more supportive than back home in helping each other. Clementine just might need to take some time to adjust and learn that from experience. She is still figuring this place out. The situation here. The people here. She still needs to settle in. To at least figure if there are any familiar faces around.]

That's probably true!

[Probably. Luz thought after being on the Boiling Isles that she'd be ready for any kind of strange thing, but this place had a way of throwing her for a loop].

The big thing, I think, is that you start off thinking things are going to be quiet and then something immediately messes with your perception. Last month the flora and fauna were given an angry pill and then set loose on all of us. It was a pretty scary situation.

[One that Luz knew SHE could handle but might completely throw off someone else, for good reason].

The plants and animals too? I mean. I guess the animals aren't as surprising and I know some plants can make you sick. But that sounds pretty crazy.

[She just can't help being nervous about this. Let alone more of the plants and animals on top of the likes of walkers. Or whatever else was out there. Given it sounds like things change every so often around here for some reason. She keeps looking down, scanning the area for any sign of AJ.]

Unfortunately yes. And I don't think anyone will argue with you about how crazy it is. What's good is that unlike most places, there are people here that are able to deal with that craziness. That's because we've all been pulled from all kinds of different worlds.

[She was trying not to overload this poor girl's brain, but also wanted to make sure she knew she'd be protected even if she got caught up in whatever strangeness Somnius served them up].

Anything yet?

I guess that makes sense. People from different places would have been dealing with different situations so chances are someone might have dealt with something similar back home? That sort of thing?

[She might be more used to back home with the walkers. But she has some sort of idea? At least in theory? From what little she has figured and been told of this place so far at least. Clementine shakes her head in answer before realizing the other probably is focusing on what is ahead of them, or looking down rather than at Clementine behind her.]

Not yet. Where is that goober?

Something like that. We're all trying to relate to each other despite the differences. I think we have a lot more in common than some people think.

[It is a lot, and right now she had someone she was looking for. That was going to happen, first and foremost.

Which meant that Luz knew she'd have to be brutally honest].

We'll keep looking, but I think I should tell you that its not often people from the same world come at exactly the same time.

Sounds....nice.

[Very different to her experience back home. Not that there weren't some people that seemed to want to help, that were kind. But it never lasted long. Not before something would happen to them, that she would need to keep moving. Still, she has to at least try to find AJ. She can't not at least try to find the little guy.]

He's just a kid. I'm all he has. I can't just leave him on his own....

It is. I've learned recently that not everyone here is like that, but luckily there are only a few who are really trying to make trouble.

[And the less Luz thought about them, the less likely she was to have a bad day, so she gave that a rest and concentrated on the current situation. At the mention of AJ being a kid, however, Luz looked up].

But I mean. Aren't you also a kid too?

I know the type.

[Some people always had to ruin things for others. Some weren't as kind. She understands that all too well. Clementine gives a shrug at the other asking about her being a kid too. Technically she was still a minor, she supposes. Not that it mattered back home anymore, really.]

I'm sixteen. AJ is about five or so. I've been the one taking care of him since his parents....aren't around anymore.

[Neither are hers. But. Still. AJ was the focus here.]

Sorry to hear that. I know it too. They're never fun to meet, believe me. But there are a lot more nicer people here too, so it's not as bad as it could be. At least monster aren't running around rampantly.

[That had to be a plus, right]?

Five? Jeez. Ok, now I see what you mean. Yes, we'll look for him as thoroughly as we can. No wonder you're looking for him.

[Gosh that was rough, having no parents. It was hard enough for her to be here without Mama and Eda. The last thing she wanted was to have Clementine overcome with worry.

Though Luz still feared the worst: that Clementine wound up here and AJ didn't].

No walkers is a plus. That's for sure. And I'd sooner not meet some people like those back home. Some of them were...not nice.

[But well. There would always be some people. Some that were cruel. That took advantage of others, of certain situations. Clementine just tried to do her best. To do what she could. To follow the advice from Lee.

She still has to figure out about AJ. As her priority. But it was nice to know that some of the people here apparently aren't so bad.]

Yes. He's still learning so much. And he's always had me. I can't say how he might react being somewhere new like this without me.

Yeah. And same, really. Sometimes it doesn't even have to be about a lot of those people. Sometimes it's just one.

[One really, intensely awful person who made it his goal to seek out the suffering of others. How many were here, she wasn't sure, but at least she didn't think anyone here was quite that bad. Yet].

Of course. But you know, there's also the possibility you showed up here without him.

I don't think it means he's without you necessarily though, more that that reality is paused now, and you're here. We'll keep looking of course, just in case. A five year old Dreamer in this world would stick out.

[And in that case, anything could happen, depending on what was going on in Somnius. They had to get to him as soon as they could].

I can't be without him. I've been the one that raised him. But -- you're saying that if he isn't here, it's still okay? He won't be without me back home? Won't miss me, wonder where I am? At least there is that....

[AJ was capable enough for his age but that didn't mean he was really ready to be alone. To be without her. Without someone to care for him. He needed others. At the least, her. Clementine feels rather protective of the boy, considering she had raised him from when he was a baby. She was all he had. He was all she had. After having both lost their parents. Her losing Lee. And everyone else that she had traveled with over time after that.]

I'm not sure if I can see him yet.

That's what I've been told, yes. If he's here, then we'll keep looking until we find him.

[Luz hoped that if AJ was here, they would find out soon. If not, Luz could at least help Clementine adjust to being here].

We'll keep looking, and if we have to, put out an alert on the network just in case we missed someplace.

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