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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
The elf turns and watches with more quiet curiosity than anything else, about to ask what he's doing when he pulls out a (currently undecided) gemstone locket from one of the pockets.
Strange, that wasn't in there before. ]
Are you looking for something?
no subject
Did you leave behind your Oracle when you got here? Rectangle thing, has a creepy eye on it, like the one I was just using.
[At least the dialogue options let him respond normally for a change!]
no subject
[ It wasn't important, right? Don't worry about the flow on implications.
The text has returned to make Kabru's life difficult. ]
(PLEASE CHOOSE AN OPTION:)
> "You're an idiot-"
> "It's fine you don't need any of that."
> Wear his cloak and look smug.
> Donate to the poor -> Transfer 10 spoons to his empty pendant.
no subject
[And text... Yet more baffling options! What does that last one even mean, spoons?
Ah, whatever, maybe he should just test it and find out. Taking Mithrun's pendant and his own blue stone, he taps them together to try to transfer shards to Mithrun's. Does it work?]
no subject
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the transfer of shards works just as intended. The dangling silver pendant has a hollow center, where a gemstone should sit, but it glows slightly when the transfer takes place, leaving Mithrun watching with a quiet glance. ]
If this is a dungeon, there are more important things to do. Have you seen it's ruler?
[ Even he pauses, waiting for the text to come up... no? Nothing yet? It's biding it's time perhaps. ]
1/2
no subject
Yes, but only a picture of him. I haven't met him, or seen him in person.
no subject
[ He turns, taking a look over to the castle in the distance. That's a pretty clear landmark to follow, even he'd struggle to get lost on the way. Probably. There's a look in those eyes that might seem familiar to Kabru. ]
I'm going to go find him. [ And he turns, already starting to walk towards the ominous boss music, leaving the cloak and pendant behind. ]
(CHOOSE A RESPONSE:)
> Throw his stuff at him
> Make a snarky comment while he walks away
> Push him over
> Encourage him to go in the maze
no subject
[He can't just let him walk in there, and most of the options seem counterproductive, so...
> Push him over
He runs at Mithrun and tackles him to the ground. Overkill, maybe, when he can't teleport away, but he can't be too careful.]
no subject
[ THUD, sliiiide. The worst part is this isn't even the first time this has happened.
Lanky frame shifts, and that blank expression lifts slowly after he recovers his breath and tries to move out from beneath him, ignoring the scrapes across his chin and clothes. ]
What are you doing-
no subject
Stopping you from doing something stupid. You just got here, right? You don't have your powers, a weapon, or anything else. You also don't know anything about the ruler of this place, but you're going to just march into the labyrinth without preparations.
no subject
He takes at least a bit of time to consider his words. Eventually answering. ]
If this is all part of the dungeon, we don't have much time. What are you suggesting?
[ It's open, it's swallowed up the town. There's no way he can wait much longer, right? ]
no subject
[It still freaks Kabru out, but he has to rationalise it in his own head. Charging into the maze without a plan is just going to get him killed, and it will be no different for Mithrun.]
What I suggest is that you get your magic back, learn more about what you're up against, and get some supplies.
no subject
... ]
How do you know? We just appeared here.
[ As far as he knows, there's no reason to think there's weird time stuff happening. In fact, that would be impossible!
Right? ]
no subject
[Which is how Kabru had woken up, baffled that he was no longer under arrest by the Canaries and no elves in sight. Convenient, but confusing!]
no subject
[ Well that leaves two options. Either the tallman is delirious -- Possible, maybe likely, they get confused easily. Or he's telling the truth as he knows it. Either way, it raises a few more questions. ]
How do you know it's a dream space?
no subject
[He feels kind of bad for Mithrun just... laying there while they have a conversation, so Kabru moves to help him sit up, dusting off the dirt from his front.]
If nothing else, I'd think of it as a useful shorthand for distinguishing it from the dungeon we're familiar with.
no subject
Hmm... We'll have to see how stable it is.
What do you know about the lord of the dungeon?
[ Vaeros' tricks are coming back, as if they were waiting for a good chance. ]
(PLEASE CHOOSE A RESPONSE:)
> "Oh he's the coolest guy!"
> "He's super handsome and smart. I wish I was him."
> "He's a kind and benevolent ruler, very fair and welcoming if you listen to him."
> "I think he's more reasonable than the dreamers here think. They just don't understand."
[ Hey wait, don't all of these responses feel... biased? ]
no subject
Oh, he's the coolest guy.
[please don't fall for this nonsense, Mithrun...]
no subject
If you don't want to take this seriously I can take over from here.
[ A deadpan look right back. ]