![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labyrinevents) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
buttrinthum2024-07-20 09:30 am
TDM #10 OVERFLOW
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:
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.
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-
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:
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.
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.
no subject
[He inclines his head, meeting Val's eyes with his brows raised high over his own.]
A ley line.
Invisible paths, charged by supernatural energy, that criss-cross the entire globe - at least, where I come from. Those trade routes that the Neolithic civilizations followed run along these lines, as did the trade routes of dozens of other ancient civilizations, many of which had no communication with the others. This is phenomenon that has been occurring for millennia, and always the same paths.
When these paths converge, the convergence becomes a pocket for a massive amount of this energy. Any number of things can happen.
no subject
[Surprisingly, Val is listening. It’s not as though those goblins/gelflings (not gremlins; they are not endeared to her) had answers to much of anything—and in general, people tend to be less than inclined to spill their true thoughts to Valerie. This is by design.
[Gansey, as far as she can tell, really is just sharing his whole theory with a nigh-stranger, and she’s not quite sure what to make of that.
[Val taps her chin.]
You think a quirk of your particular setting applies to one entirely removed?
[It is, perhaps also surprisingly, not intended to be hostile. Doubt is evident, though.]
BARRY-KUN MENTION
[Better he didn't, as it all turns out, but, still.
[Gansey's smile is humbly self-aware.] This is what I know - and I know an awful lot about it. These ley line convergences are long rumored to have enough supernatural power to alter reality as we know it. This could be proof.
[He already has proof, but as forthcoming as Gansey might seem, he still holds some cards close to his chest (though, it's...more out of sentiment than secrecy; Cabeswater is a sacred place).]
no subject
Oh, it’s a rumor.
[Hand flick. Sorry, Gansey; her attention is lost, and with that the even (er, relatively speaking) tone is just as gone.]
You know, you almost had me in the first part. But this could just as easily be a case of seeing what you want to see, no? Don’t you think it slots in just a lit-tle too well?
Or, rather, that part does. And would these “convergences” account just as easily for our contracts?
no subject
There are plenty of phenomenon surrounding ley lines which have been thoroughly researched, documented, reviewed, and shared. [A brief pause for another perfectly self-aware laugh.] Trust me. I know.
[As for the contracts, he concedes with a pair of raised brows and a momentary flash of his palms.]
I'm not claiming to have the mystery solved, but if you're interested in a "manhunt," as you put it, for information, then you should at least take what the people you're hunting have to say into consideration, right?
I give you what I have.
no subject
[Ah. More counter-needling, is it? (There are few ways, if any, to quote Val to herself which will not be perceived as such.) The grin returns; the eyes are far less amused.]
Don’t get me wrong, Gansey. I take what everyone has to say into consideration quite carefully. And rest assured, every last character here, whether gremlin or so-called “Dreamer,” has a wealth of life experience to offer. As I understand, this is perfectly normal.
“Trust me, I know” doesn’t elevate you as much as you might think!
no subject
[Pause.
[No, he doesn't, actually.]
That is to say - I'll have it again, soon. Give me until then to withdraw your consideration, hm?
I'm happy to hear what you have to share in the meantime.
no subject
[Hands steeple beneath her chin. If nothing else, that “research” ought to be interesting to dig through.]
If you can produce it. But I accept.
Your consideration was never at risk, by the by; if it turns out you’re devouring a fiction as fact, that also intrigues me plenty.
[With that, she crosses her arms behind her back, and starts to idly circle Gansey.]
Since you were so kind as to tell your tale in an interactive manner, I’ll do the same for you, yes? What do you think I want this information for?
no subject
The same as most of the people here, I'd guess. An answer to why we're here, and...ostensibly - though, not necessarily - how to leave.
no subject
[Now that’s a mirror she can take. Vultures they shall be, then.]
Observant! Not bad. You even accounted for a motivational outlier.
Now—and keep following, you’ll get your answers—let’s pivot slightly. You deem this the work of the ley lines, correct? But surely this was no random happenstance, when many received a similar command.
What do you suppose motivates this Vaeros figure, to bait so many here?
no subject
[He holds up a finger.] I deem it nothing. I give you what I have, as I've said. Do keep my words my words, if you will, Val.
[As for Vaeros - Gansey lifts his hands one either side of him and laughs. Is it a thrilled sound, or an angry one?] I don't know! I can't pretend to know.
Power, surely. An army, maybe. A ritual.
For what? I don't know.
no subject
[A shrug, to that first point. But it’s not theatric; maybe she really will follow.
[Power. Army. Ritual. See, one doesn’t get answers like this back in Greyfield. There’s no bandwidth.]
What lofty goals. I suppose there’s a certain arrogance that would chase someone like that, no? A world to his own whim, countless hapless nobodies running amok. A manhunt, a wild rumor chase—all excellent venues for conflict, if nothing else.
[She stops.]
I find it entertaining.
no subject
Maybe Vaeros does, too.
no subject
[The smile is thin.
[Valerie nods.]
You’re a smart one.
no subject
That's sadistic.
no subject
[A pause.
[He gets it.
[Val opens her mouth, takes in a breath; holds it, for a moment. It’s unnecessary, as Gansey might have noticed; she doesn’t have to breathe at all.]
Between you and me.
The worst thing someone could be, under a person like that… is boring.
no subject
[Val's advice is heeded with a slow, understanding nod. Granted, Gansey doesn't know what sort of thing constitutes as "interesting" in a world full of humans, humanlike animals, monsters, princes, gods, and everything in between...
[He'll have to figure it out.]
Well. I've certainly found this conversation to be interesting. Perhaps we can keep each other motivated.
no subject
Perhaps we can.
[Val reaches to pat his shoulder, just twice; if he allows for none of it, the retreat is calm. She steps past him.]
I look forward to that research.
no subject
Until then, Val.