buttrinthum | TDM #10

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. 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: Sunflowers and Hibiscus. You’ll soon find out that being around the Sunflower makes it difficult to pass through the already disorienting garden, even with the light guiding you. Where patches of them grow, even if only waist-high, you cannot pass through them, over them, or even destroy them to get them out of your way. In each grouping that blocks your path, there is one that has a key-shaped opening in the middle of the flower. Maybe the key is nearby? (Spoiler: it's probably under a rock nearby that you forgot to check!) The hibiscus offers an entirely different effect - inhaling the pollen grants you the temporary ability to shoot fireballs out of your hands. But be careful, those fireballs are difficult to control and seem to bounce in random directions no matter how hard you try to aim (cannot be used to destroy the sunflowers). The effect ends once you step out of the garden.

It's Dangerous to go Alone! Take This.

Somnius is once again recovering from a devastating blow. Buildings need to be restored to their former glory and the emotional turmoil of the previous weeks surely needs to be alleviated. What better way to lighten the mood than a little fun for the whole family? A new arcade has appeared in town, beckoning residents with its stone doors set wide open.

With multiple levels, a variety of games and even a snackbar, Appl3 Pi Arcade is sure to be a hit!

Of course, as with everything that ever happens in Somnius, the arcades appearance is not without some complications. For one, playing the games inside might see characters teleported into the machine itself, perfectly pixelated to fit the game they're in. Hope you weren't about to fight the final boss, because now you might be fighting for your life! The good news is, if you die in the game... you don't die in real life and are just popped back out into the arcade again.

Strange things happen outside the arcade too. Walking down the road you might suddenly see a healthbar pop up above someone's head. Are you supposed to fight them? Are they going to fight you? Best to be cautious and reach for any trusty weapons you have just in case. Weapons that have become pixelated and can be pulled seemingly out of nowhere like some kind of hammerspace. They are also prone to breaking and shattering into glimmering pixel pieces (your normal weapons are still intact, don't worry).

Boxes and pots around Somnius are somehow more breakable than usual, smashed open with a single swing of those pixel weapons and producing gold coins! What a shame gold coins aren't the currency here. But if you don't want to destroy more things around Somnius, why not try fishing instead? That seems safe - if not suddenly more difficult with the fishing minigame that popped up in front of you. Quick! Keep the fish icon in the green bar or you'll lose it!

All things considered? It's all relatively harmless fun up until-

But Enough Talk, Have At You!

Vaeros wakes up. For those new to town, this means nothing. For those that were here for the castle raid? They can rest assured that they're in for a surprise. The Overlord of Visium has finally awoken from his Hyalily induced coma and he is furious. A shout echoes from the castle:

"Did you think you had won, dear Dreamers? Did you think you had bested me? Go, play your games, but know that there is only one winner here, and it is me."

A wave of magical energy sweeps through the town, shaking it to the very core. Miraculously, the destroyed buildings and any remnants of the forest onslaught are gone and returned to their usual state. Perhaps Vaeros shouting was just another tantrum, an empty threat?

Not quite.

The town has been restored, but the locals? They are nowhere to be seen - cowering in their homes and fleeing to the sanctity of the Church of the Moon in hopes of staying out of sight of Vaeros and Dreamers both. The once tame video game effects are now far more intense - monsters from within those games are now rampaging through the town. They seem to shift through buildings, but if they run face first into a Dreamer, they will find them very corporeal and very deadly.

Not only that, but the lines are starting to blur between reality and fiction again, the healthbar above your head flickering in and out, the monsters turning from pixel beasts to real, live animals that roam Somnius - both feral and not. One second you are walking through town, and the next you are stepping onto a platform that starts to break under your weight, demanding you jump to the next platform before you plummet into an odd, multicolored abyss.

And strangest of all is that music coming from the labyrinth, growing louder when you approach and fading out when you move away.

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.

OVERFLOW POST

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Puck liked games as much as the next being but the way that Somnius seemed to be switching between normal and every kind of game mechanic it could think of was, frankly, wearing thin. Out for a flight and just dodging a hammer lobbed by an angry turtle with nothing else to do, Puck's attention was pulled by the flash of someone jumping in a nearby area.

Zapping the turtle with some transformation magic and watching as it turned into a statute for the time being, Puck flew towards the man. "I can grab you on the count of three!" It would be easier to give the other an idea of what Puck had in mind, instead of trying to simply grab him.

It was bad enough that other creatures have decided to play this game, but now there are turtles throwing hammers? Is nothing sacred?! The Mock Turtles back home were much more passive. In fact he'd imagine they would rather shed a tear than even thinking of doing such violent things.

Hatter looked up at Puck with grimace, "Please do, I think if I jump anymore I will become a grasshopper!"

They really were rude! Puck had just waved at them and suddenly hammers were flying. "Can't have that! Right, on three! One, two, three!"

At three, Puck rushed down and grabbed the other man, but took a few seconds to make sure his grip was secured. It'd be pointless otherwise.

Counting along with Puck, thank goodness there were no half numbers, the Hatter leapt up took hold of his hands. Needn't worry that Hatter's hold wasn't loose, he dreaded to fall from such a height. He looked up with a weak smile, "Oh, oh that was so close, thank you ever so much!"

Glancing back at the creatures who seemed to be very into this violent game Hatter took a sharp breath, "Good gracious what kind of game are they trying to play anyhow? It's rude, untidy and-and-and IMPOSSIVE!!" In which he meant impolite and aggressive, he looked back up at Puck, "Don't suppose if one loses, it will be their head too? This very much seems like a game the Queen would make!"

"You're welcome!" Puck headed away from the area and kept an eye out for any part of the city that looked more normal than others. It was kind of a hodgepodge though, for every part that looked like a normal business or a road leading to some of the houses, there were two other areas with game elements. Coins, various enemies clipping through buildings, pottery to be broken.

"It's a mix of different types from everything I can tell!" The sudden new term didn't throw Puck too much. "No loss of heads from what I can tell- but I'm not in a hurry to find out what happens otherwise."

As if on cue and with a bright chime, a series of health bars appeared- one for Hatter and one for Puck. Puck rolled his eyes and kept flying, ignoring his.

"You can also fight back! Some of them are strong, but most vanish in a few strikes!"

A sigh of relief came from Hatter as dusted himself off and adjusted his hat. Quite thankful he needn't worry about his head being detached from his body any time soon. Well, physically, so to speak. As the health bars appeared Hatter's eyes widen in both curiosity and fright as he gave a little yelp. Then attempted to try and poke at it as it gave a low hum and only fizzed with little block bits around his touch.

"I'm glad to know I can fight back, though I never learned how, nor do I own a weapon but..." Points at their health bars, "What are these anyway?"

Once they'd landed safely, a few blocks away from the center of the city, Puck nods to the health bars. "A quick way of seeing if you're healthy. In games, when your character takes damage, the bar will go down."

Puck stretches and keeps an eye out for anything weird coming their way. So far, it seems safe. "When the bar is fully empty, your character will die temporarily but come back for another turn. I don't know what happens if that happens to us, but I'll assume we'll just pass out for a minute and wake back up." At the comment about Hatter not owning a weapon, Puck gave the other a thoughtful look.

"Are you good at throwing, or hitting?"

"Ohhh... A health bar," Luckily Hatter was able to put that together, he rubbed his chin in thought. How nifty that would be to see that all the time, then he would see how much tea would be sufficient to feeling better... Would need all of the tea probably.

Gives a nod, "Oh I can throw a teacup in a fantastic way, make it twirl fantastic for accuracy, one time I got it caught up in a tree... Don't ask how we needed to get it down. It was quite messy!"

"I'll take your word for it. But since you're good at throwing, that means you're not short on items to use. A few well placed hits should handle enemies that show up. Or at least give you enough time to get away."

Still no enemies, so that's working in their favor. "Anyway, where are my manners? I'm Puck- Who are you?"

"Hm, a good point!" The Hatter looked around, "I wonder how many rocks I can hold in my pockets-"

Oh right, they haven't been properly introduced, Hatter straightened himself out and adjusted his hat. Holding out his hand to shake, "Why I'm the Mad Hatter, it is a pleasure to meet you Puck! You're quite an adaptable fellow!"

"It depends on the size of both the rocks and your pockets themselves!"

Puck answers with a shrug. He takes Hatter's hand and gives it a very firm shake with a smile. "Likewise a pleasure, Hatter. I have to be, as I'm a performer."

"Hm, I will need bigger pocket space..."

Then Hatter gave a wide smile, "A performer! OH how marvelous, I am one too! I love to sing and dance. However, Time thinks I waste too much of it when I do, so I haven't done it lately. Ah, but when I do..." He began to look to the skies in wonder, "It is a sight to see!"

"You would, yes. Otherwise you're just throwing smaller weapons. You'd have to do more work, which could leave you at a disadvantage."

Puck clapped his hands once. "What is time but something to spend? What kinds of dances and songs do you like?"

TDM #10

03- Have at you

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