buttrinthum | TDM #10

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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

[He happens to notice her after beating the third easy level of the rhythm game song. Unlike the rest of the video games, this one had an option to touch close to the screen only because the buttons were on the ring around it. It was a very simple game.]

Oh..?

[Noticing someone was asking her about it, she'll begin to touch the ring again.]

You follow the instructions on the screen. Circles will appear and float to whichever button you need to touch.

[Without realizing it she may have accidentally chosen a stronger level without meaning to.]

And then what? [He notices that there are brief instructions that flash on the screen: something about reaching a high score.] You keep pressing the buttons in the right order, and you win?

[It sounds like a game of following simple instructions. Wouldn't a child be able to play this? Granted, the music is fun to listen to, but the level that Taryon was watching her play didn't seem all too exciting. Perhaps it would be different if he was actually playing it, but the novelty night wear off after a while.]

[She'll nod her head.]

That's right! You press the buttons at the right time while listening to the music.

[Nuvia will begin to go through the list of music choices until she found one, she really liked.

Once the music begins to play, she'll quickly realize the notes were moving faster and have increase in number. Oh, wow, at first, she'll have a tough time catching up until she begins to use her elbows to catch the notes, she couldn't reach making it seem she was touching more than one button at a time.]

Alright...

[The music is interesting. It's nothing like he's heard from home, and the voice of the singer is otherwordly. Computer-generated instruments and Vocaloids are centuries away from Taryon's time, and it's all bizarre to him.

It's fascinating.

The notes arrive, and Nuvia does slap the buttons in time, just like she said. Now that Tary's invested in her winning and in hearing the entire song, he finds himself excited to watch the flashing notes. You have to use your elbows to play? That's rather complicated, especially with how fast the notes are moving.]

[She will continue to follow the music's rhythm by trying her best to keep up with the speed. Nuvia will use whatever body part to accomplish it. Be it her elbows, hands, forehead, or legs. It was a rocky start and middle but by the end of the song she'll end up falling on her butt to the ground.]

Finally! It's over!

[It was weird to lose so much stamina for such a simple game. Why did she feel so tired and jumpy? Whatever the case, Nuvia will realize she hit a C in the game as a final score while she realizes the game wishes for a round two.

She'll turn her head to the guy.]

Would you like to play with me?

[This is the oddest workout routine Taryon has ever witnessed, but sure. Games are meant to show off one's athletic and dexetrous prowess. He watches the score counter rack up a bunch of points, only to result in a C.]

Well, that's too low for the effort you put in. [He shrugs, then turns to Nuvia.] I'd like to try. But can we start with something less...intense? Not that I'm not capable of it, but I ought to warm up before we get to the good stuff.

[He rolls his shoulders, hoping that he looks tough and strong enough to do any song.]

[She'll nod her head in agreement because...]

I don't want to do it again in that speed either.

[Slowly getting off the ground, Nuvia will begin to brush her shorts of all dirt before turning to the machine. She'll exit out of the game's current level somehow. The highlighted soft blue color off the "Beginner" looks much friendlier than the red one known as "Challenge".

She'll turn to the strong and tough adult next to her with a soft smile.]

I'm sorry. Maybe I should've told you this earlier, but I don't know how to read. Am I doing it right? Changing the levels, that is.

[Ah, so she was working on a difficult song. "Beginner" sounds like something his own speed and probably won't involve kicks and elbow jabs. Strangely, she was able to figure out this navigation without being able to read.]

You can't? And you still figured out the machine? [He sounds impressed, despite his rudeness.] Sure, just select this thing [he points at the letters written in blue] and it should work.

[He holds a finger over the screen, then the buttons.] What do you do to change it?

[Rude? Where was he rude?]

I did once I figured out what each button does.

[There was some trial and error on Nuvia's end in order for her to figure out on the best way to pick songs. Fortunately, the tutorial pictures gave a simple explanation of the rules even when the wordy instructions couldn't.

She'll begin to touch the corresponding buttons surrounding the screen to pick the options he pointed out. Once the level setting was selected, rows filled with words in white fonts appear. She tilts her head slightly.]

Um...I think it's asking for what genre of music you want us to choose from.

[She'll continue to press the buttons to hover over the choices to showcase a short sample of each genre. There will be explanations about the song choices like rap, rock, pop, idol, and anime. Whatever that is.]

Just press these two buttons to move between choices. [She'll point to the top and bottom buttons before turning to another button with the word enter over it.] This button is to confirm your choice, I think.

[Pointing to another clear circle button underneath the Enter.]

This means cancel, I think?

[Sometimes focusing on how well someone can do something without being able to read can come off as patronizing, but Taryon is genuine in his praise. And Nuvia is one skilled dancer. He has to praise her for something.]

Taryon leans over her shoulder to read the names of each genre for her, even if he doesn't understand what they mean.] The rock sample sounded good. Why not try that?

[He taps the bottom button a few times to go through the list of songs, then waits a few seconds to listen to the music. These are not instruments he's familiar with, but they're strange and cool, so what's not to love? He's sure they have equally fun lyrics.]

Got it. That seems right. And there's this "options" sections. [He opens the menu, which goes through volume settings, colors, and background choices. He closes out.] Never mind all that. I think I can try it out. You said I slap the buttons when the arrows appear?

[Nuvia wouldn't have noticed if he was because he sounded so genuine in his surprise. She didn't believe it was anything to be praise for. Her mama taught her to dance and trained her body to be able to withstand hard labor. This was nothing in comparison to farming, keeping their island clean of debris, or even scaring away the crows and other pests trying to eat her mama's hard grown vegetables.

Nodding her head in understanding.]

Mama likes this type of genre too. She says the Old-World music from the 70s and 80s of the 19th century were the best.

[Unfortunately, Nuvia has bad memory with not just names and faces, but music titles and singers from the Old World. As much as her mother tried to teach her culture, it never got absorbed into her mind. Not when she had more things to think about, and now it feels like having turned human has made her short-term memory worse.]

That's right! Just slap the buttons when the arrow appears here.

[She'll show him an example of where the sensor was to gain points.]

Are you ready to start?

Old-World? [Nuvia is from a future so distance that this electric music is considered to be old? As he ponders this shocking revelation, Taryon jerks his head from side to side, as if changing the angle of his brain will help him conceptualize the breadth of time between his world and Nuvia's.

And he will never live long enough to hear rock music in Exandria? It's a tragedy that he will never appreciate fantasy power metal, too.]

Mm-hm. Right. From what I understand, those arrows pop up to the beat of the song. [He stands before the console and hovers his hands over the ring of buttons.] Should be easy enough. Let's go.

[He rolls his shoulders, stands up straight, and grins.]

It's what we refer to anything before the New World 30th century. [Looking at her fingers, she'll begin to count.] There's also the times of Myths and Legends. The Dark Ages. The first and second Enlightenment. The Persecution Wars.

[Nuvia could go on about the way those in the 30th century viewed history without realizing the man next to her was nowhere near her time period but most people in the village aren't except for a certain few.

Realizing he was quickly understanding the rules and terminology of the game, Nuvia will begin to offer a small, delighted smile because she's never played games with anyone before. This would be a first for her. It was pretty exciting!

Taking her position at his other side with the intention to play alongside him, she will turn to the machine with the clear mind to begin the next round of their game. The music will begin in an easy rhyme that will have Nuvia swaying her hips side to side because why not? It may be fun to dance before the game actually begins.]

Thanks for giving it a chance. This is a great song!

The...

[It's the 800's in his world. The 9th century. How many centuries exist between himself and Nuvia if she comes from the New World? They are more than an universe apart, temporarily meeting in this brief, miraculous moment to play a video game together.]

I don't know if we're even past the first Enlightenment. [It's a different thing on Exandria than on Earth, especially with how the "Dark Ages" are interpreted.] Or if we'll see any of those eras you mentioned.

[Scary stuff! Anyway, it's time to rock. Playing games by himself is familiar, and Taryon sees this as another complex, strategy-type that he could teach himself. Now, he's gaming with a friend, another novel concept. He slaps the button with precise movements, never touching the panel with his palm, almost turning it into an actual, graceful performance.]

I love the drumbeats. Is it common for this genre?

Really? What era are you from?

[She couldn't help feeling so curious to know which timeline in the Old World he was from. It was tough to guess. He is very capable and observant! By just willing to give the game they're going to play together a chance is more than enough to impress her.

Watching him play the game with such style was enough for Nuvia to begin to cheer for him finding his unique style to be graceful. A nod will be given to answer his question.]

It is! Good ear. They provide the rhythmic foundation and drive the energy and tempo of the music.

I'm...Post-Divergence, if that means anything in your world. [He doesn't even know that his world could be called "relatively medieval" when he has no frame of reference.

He slaps a series of rapid oncoming beats before speaking again.] Rock music. Let's do another after this.

Post-Divergence? I've never heard of it before. What's your world like?

[She will continue to move her body to the music's beat while continuing to hit the buttons in a more relaxed pace. At his suggestion for another round, Nuvia will point out.]

As long as we complete the songs with a passing grade, the game will let us play three more times until we win the round or fail.

That's after the Calamity, when time when gods sealed themselves on a plane separate from the mortal one. Did anything like that happen with yours?

[He realizes that he's missed a few notes before returning to the game and finishing up the song.]

Because I've learned that we all come from vastly different planes. Anyway, let's do three more songs.

[She shook her head softly.]

Not that I know of. Gods don't exactly exist in my world. Not anymore.

[Nuvia's world went through a change by abolishing religion and the worship of any deities without proof of existence. There are still those who do believe in them, but they do so in silence and in secret, fearing judgment from others.]

Aiba always told me there are alternative realities. Earth is one of many planets with a central link that connects to other planes of existence.

[She agreed with Tay's words about there being different worlds. Nodding her head, Nuvia wondered.]

Can I pick the next rock song? I promise to find one you might like.

That's...kind of concerning? Is your world doing alright? Because losing all of your gods sounds like it would mess up so much.

[How will humans be able to appease nature or pray for a blessing? Did someone kill all of the gods?]

We have many planes of reality where I'm from, but I never heard of another Exandria. Everyone I met from that world knows who I am. [He says the last part proudly and straightens up with this self-affirming fact. Not everyone can experience having total strangers run up to you and saying that they recognize your name.]

Sure, pick the next one.

My world is doing just fine. [Well...] There is a war going on, and it’s been going for the last hundred years. [Not to mention...] There are some issues with...communication between people. [Which she means to hint at the cruelty she faces for being different, a detail she prefers not to share with Tay.]

They do? Are you famous?

[Her curiosity piqued, Nuvia was intrigued by the idea of his world and the recognition he received. After he gives her permission to choose the next rock song, she flips through the game catalog until she finds one that catches her interest.]

This one sounds like fun! Do you like it?

moving to overflow

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TDM #10

the arcade

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sorry for late reply, i had to work overtime this week

no problem!

thank you! i appreciate it! i didn't want to lose this cr opportunity. :)

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