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

[Arrival, Part One]

['It's good to be the queen- to have a happily ever after,' is what Anna thinks as she settles into her seat before the mirror, beginning to undo the many clasps and details of her dress. And yet, despite that contentment, something still tugs her heart strings. An old, worn desire which should have faded in more recent years. 'I wish I could go on one more adventure' she thinks wistfully, and a sudden slumber overtakes her.

And then the barn owl overtakes her.

She awakens quite suddenly in the enchanted garden, still dressed in her full royal garb, a few locks of hair springing free of their meant-to-be-immaculate braided style, and her tiara lop-sided on her head. And while the awakening itself was sudden, she does take a long moment to sit up, rubbing at her eyes as the situation fails to sink in. There's a wide, unceremonious yawn from behind her hand.]

Uwaaaawn... That's odd, I don't remember... Falling... [...Grass? Flowers? Trees? She springs to her feet, alarmed and taking in her foreign surroundings as the truth hits her.] Ohhh... Ooooh nnnooo. No no no nononono- this can't be good!

[She takes a step forward. Then backward. Then she spins in a circle, setting her tiara right with an idle gesture. Finally, she raises a hand to the side of her mouth and yells:]

KRISTOOOOFF? OLAAAAF? [A moment of hesitation, then a softer:] Elsaaa?

[Arrival, Part Two]

[Later, Anna can be found sitting by the edge of the enchanted garden, examining all the strange objects in her pouch. She's mostly talking to herself, but doing it so loudly that anyone can overhear and chime in.

She takes out the little potion and stares at it with extreme scrutiny before setting it aside.]

Right. Drink me. Suuure. Like that's not an obvious trap. Nice try, mystery kidnapper! [She reaches into the pouch again to pull out the communication device. It's held up between her thumb and index finger before her face, evoking a wide-eyed stare.] Oooooh, what's this?

[Liminal Spaces]

[Anna is used to animals behaving... Well, smarter than they ought to. Even attempting to speak. That's exactly why the town crier goat gives her pause. She watches it for a long moment. Maybe this isn't what she should be focusing on in this strange new place, but there's something so comforting and familiar about the almost humanoid bleating. Maybe it's got an important message for her from Kristoff! Or Elsa!

... She can't make sense of it at all.]

I'm sorry, I don't understand you. [She leans forward, her hands resting on her knees.] Do you know how to play charades? I'm the best at charades!

[The goat just bleats in her face and runs off, leaving her to huff in an indignant manner.]

Well. That was rude. Are all animals here that stuffy?

[Wildcard]

[Shoot me a message for something custom! I'm just feeling the waters here.]

[ .. Sorry, Anna.

The first look Inigo is giving you is.. well, mostly baffled. At least it's keeping his dumb dramatic flirting instincts from kicking in right away, but he's still looking at her like he isn't quite sure what he saw just now. ]

Were you.. [ He starts, almost carefully. Like he can't help but ask this question, but also doesn't necessarily want to hurt Anna's feelings in the process. ]

Were you trying to talk to it?

[ Just making sure he saw that right! ]

[She stands up straighter, her arms crossing over her chest. She wonders if she's being laughed at, but if that's the case, she'll just have to stand tall! And regal! And calm and composed, like Elsa.

Nevermind that tiny pout on her lips. That's nothing.]

Well, it was trying to talk to me first. You saw it, didn't you? It had quite a bit to say.

I mean--

[ He pauses for a moment.

Honestly, it's not even like Anna is coming off as intimidating to your random person, but to a guy like Inigo, who is scared of girls in the first place? That pout is working miracles. It's like he's terrified of what might happen if he doesn't phrase this as delicately as possible! ]

That is what.. goats.. usually do, right? [ He's seen some goats before! Even if he's pointing this out very carefully! L-Lady Anna, please be merciful-- ] They're usually kind of loud for no reason. I haven't ever seen a reason for all their loud bleating, anyway.

Anna of Arendelle | Frozen | New character, new player

liminal spaces

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arrival |

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Arrival: The First One

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Arrival Two!

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Arrival

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