TDM #10 OVERFLOW

[labyrinevents]

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.

Comments

[odare]

"Because I don't believe whoever brought us here has our best interests in mind, nor does our overlord, Vaeros."

Finnick has no experience with benevolent overlords, and from what he's heard about Vaeros, has no reason to believe he is one. The man sounds strange and selfish, mostly.

Finnick's mind turns hyper-aware of the brush of the tail against him. He lingers, letting it touch.

"Matter of fact, I do."

He walks over to a patch of grass, overturns a rock to reveal a key. He inserts the key into a keyhole in a sunflower, and they disappear. An orb appears to lead them through the maze.

"I'm Finnick, by the way."

[verixen]

"Best interest or not, a contract is binding. If they can find a way to bend it, so can we," He says confidently before sighing, "But that's not important right now."

In Vere's mind, benevolence has nothing to do with it. The devil's in the details. He's guessing that figuring out what the deal actually is will be the difficult part.

"Well, look at you," He practically purrs as his new acquaintance uncovers a key.

"Vere," He hums with a sly smile, "Why don't you lead the way, Finnick."

He's not sure what to think about the floating light, but if Finnick seems fine with following it, he'll go along. Not that he has many other options.

cw mention of sex slavery

[odare]

Finnick doesn't agree that someone with such power over them has any obligation to stick to a contract, but there's no point in arguing. He doesn't really care anyway, so long as he doesn't have to fight in death matches or be a sex slave again.

He smiles in a self-satisfied way, and takes the chance on grabbing Vere's hand gently to pull him forward as they follow the orb. He could easily pull away, and Finnick wouldn't be offended.

"Does your world have technology?"

[verixen]

It's not often that people just reach for Vere. In his world, he is very much a monster and, while he certainly gets plenty of lingering looks, there were very few who would dare actually approach him. He's startled for a moment, snapping his hand away like Finnick has burned him. What starts as a look of indignation slowly slips into curiosity as his gaze flickers back down to Finnick's hand.

"You don't exactly have the most survival instincts, do you? Most humans wouldn't have the nerve to come this close, let alone... touch," He says, stepping closer, his eyes shifting, irises becoming hollow empty orbs that seem... hungry. For a moment, it seems like Vere is going to peer into his soul, but, instead, he makes a quiet, almost annoyed little noise in the back of his throat, his eyes going back to normal.

Apparently, that power of his has been taken as well.

"Does my world have technology? Doesn't every world have technology? Even the oldest humans had spears and bows," He says, not quite understanding what Finnick is actually asking him and completely acting like he hadn't just been ready to devour the man whole.

[odare]

Finnick's eyes flicker down at Vere's pulled away hand, then up to his expression, quickly, with a small concerned frown.

"Oh, sorry-" he mumbles. Though when Vere mentions survival instincts, he begins to smirk.

"Dangerous, are you?" The smirk becomes smug. He looks straight into Vere's eyes, unafraid, a challenge in his gaze. "Or... Not so much here, hm?" He murmurs teasingly. How does it feel to be regular, huh? Join the club! "Unless you're a vampire or something... In which case, nope, no survival instinct at all, you can eat me up."

Finnick was a vampire once for a short time... Sexy, sexy times.

"Oh, well... Yeah, I guess, but I meant phones and computers and electricity and stuff. This place isn't the most advanced, but you can still get stuff like that if you want it."

[verixen]

Vere can't help but sneer, revealing sharp, glinting teeth, easily goaded by the teasing.

"I could still tear you limb from limb, boy," He says, voice low, lips curling.

But just like that, Vere's expression shifts from menacing to genuinely amused, laid back and nonchalant.

"But, whatever it may have appeared like, that's not what I was trying to do," He says with a wave of his hand as if that explains it all, "Maybe it's my lack of powers... but where I'm from, even other monsters try to keep their distance. I wanted to see what you are."

He tilts his head when Finnick elaborates, "Hmm, then it sounds like not. I've never heard of any of those things."

[odare]

Finnick's eyebrows lift for a moment, still grinning.

"Hot."

It takes him a moment to process what Vere means.

"You can just ask me, silly. I'm a human." He winks. "Just a regular guy. No fancy powers except a bit of healing from the potion I drank. What potion did you get?" He points to the satchel.

"Well, you'll be at home here then. But I might need to show you how to use the network."