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buttrinthum2024-09-07 10:37 am
OOC INTRO + INTENSE EVENT PLOTTING: SEPTEMBER
• OOC INTRO + CR MEME •This post will act as a CR meme for everyone and a place to make some plans for our next event which will go live on September 14th. You're more than welcome to get a head start and make closed logs for your plotting. Below you will see the CR meme form + part two of the Intense Event in all of its entirety... You may use this to plot out the rest of your month!
When the crystal first cracked, the fractures seemed to spread slowly. As the weeks roll on, however, the effects seem to accelerate. The splinters spread rapidly through the village and the island, becoming more common and harder to avoid. Not only that, but the effects themselves become even more unstable. Time loops become actual glitches, altered memories come and go in disorienting glimpses, and phantoms of the world’s past come and go in the blink of an eye. Nearly all the lingering effects from the earlier weeks of the time distortion fade in the tumult of unpredictable effects, and for a few days, just navigating the village becomes an exercise in frustration. Eventually, around midday on the fourteenth, the crystal bursts, sending a wave of light through the setting. When it passes, everybody in Visium will find themselves in a different place… or rather, a different time.
A Time of Peace. (click to expand)
cw: Mind control
The dreamers awaken to find themselves in the same place as before, but the village is far larger. Goblins and gelflings bustle around once again, the labyrinth and the palace are back- though the crystal is gone- and they find themselves face to face with other Dreamers. But these Dreamers seem… different. For one thing, some of them are the same Dreamers that you’ve met in the past, but years older. Others are entirely new to you. Regardless, they seem to have one thing in common: They all revere and trust Vaeros, just like the goblins and gelflings do. In fact, if they recognize you as being from the past or they notice that you don’t share their reverence for Vaeros, they’ll try to capture you and bring you to him, so be careful.
If you are brought before Vaeros, he will immediately recognize that your character doesn’t belong there, and that you aren’t subject to whatever has the rest of the Dreamers so loyal to him. He’ll have you set in the dungeon and guarded until he can “persuade” you. Even then, escaping the cells isn’t impossible- the goblins and gelflings aren’t any more daunting or clever than before, you might be able to trick them or overpower them and escape into the Labyrinth.
As long as you avoid detection, evade capture long enough, or escape, you may see an odd sight- a hand clutching an eyeball, peering around the corner furtively before a mysterious voice hisses to you to come talk to her: The Forest Witch, clearly paranoid and even crazier than she was last year. She’ll quickly bring you to a hiding place and send you up into the mountains to speak to her.
Those who enter the labyrinth in the Peace timeline will have to face the usual challenges of navigating the labyrinth- shifting, changing walls that seek to stymie their progress. The strange rooms from the Labyrinth’s past come back to waylay you or slow you down, and if you can’t escape them, they deposit you back into the garden as usual.
A Time of War. (click to expand)
The dreamers awaken to find themselves in the same place as before, but the village is torn by battle. Some buildings have been abandoned and reduced to rubble by years of warfare and scavenging, others have been fortified into defensive structures. The labyrinth is no better, with large chunks of the walls knocked down and much of the stone reclaimed for further structures- or used to seal any of the paths further in, with dire warnings not to enter scrawled over it. The crystal is gone as well.
There’s nobody visible at first, but the Dreamers won’t have long to wait- it rarely takes long for a skirmish to break out. Skeksis, Goblins, Gelflings, even Fireys will battle back and forth at random, seemingly without any allegiance or order. Whatever allegiances created this war are long forgotten, it’s everyone for themselves. Creatures that spot you may regard you as a threat and attack as well- if you’re too dangerous, they might even team up on you.
The wilds are little better. The warfare extends even to Lake Omen, the Sirens and Mermaids attacking anybody who comes too close as well as one another. The forests are worse- the Shadow Wolves have returned and claimed them, and they will swiftly descend on anybody foolish enough to try and enter the woods. The only area untouched by the battlefield seems to be the mountains. Only one being seems to make its home up there- the Forest Witch, who seems to have known you were coming.
Those in the War timeline will find that there’s something far more dangerous than hostile goblins and skeksis hidden inside the labyrinth's walls: There are giant constructs stalking its walls, shaped vaguely like metal beetles with grasping claws. These are the Garthim, and they will hunt down anybody who enters the ruined labyrinth.
A Time of Emptiness. (click to expand)
cw: Emotion control
The dreamers awaken in the same place as before, but the village is empty and abandoned. There’s no sign of life anywhere within the village, and the only sounds are the cold, lonely wind. The buildings seem intact despite their emptiness, the items inside still left exactly where their owners were before they vanished years ago. Even the food hasn’t spoiled- it’s instead desiccated and dried by years of deterioration crumbling to dust if disturbed. Whatever emptied this village, even the organisms that would break down organic matter didn’t escape unscathed.
The same is true of the Forest, all the animals gone and the grasses and plants withered away to nothing. The trunks and branches of the trees still stand, their leaves crumbled to dust in a carpet at their feet, but they’re dry and brittle, branches snapping easily under pressure. The lake has slowly evaporated away, leaving only a trickle of water in the lake bed. No bodies remain within, either, the natives and the wildlife having vanished with everything else. The only place where you can find any sign of life is up in the mountains, where the Forest Witch is found.
Those in the Empty timeline will find it eerily still and dark, coated in a layer of dust, dirt, and grime. The walls no longer move or shift to waylay and trap those who enter it. However, eventually, your own mind starts to be affected by the labyrinth, filling you with negative emotions. Any anxiety, paranoia, grief, or pain you’re already feeling become stronger and stronger as you proceed through the labyrinth.
A Time of Wholeness. (click to expand)
The dreamer awakens in the same place as before, but the village is subtly different. There are no signs of Vaeros or his occupation. Occasionally, a familiar dark shape flies overhead, completely unbothered by your presence, before flying off toward the empty plain where the labyrinth once stood. If one follows them, one will find the dragon hatchlings, clearly far larger and years more mature than when you saw them last, living along the valley.
Your presence seem to draw a stir from the goblins and gelflings, and it’s not hard to figure out why: The only other dreamers here are those caught up in the blast from the crystal like you were. Until you showed up, it seems, there were no outsiders at all. The locals are a little skittish, but won’t be hostile, at least.
In the center of town, one may meet another familiar face- a tall, slender man, with a tanned face and a mischievous smile. Some might recognize him from visions they’ve had of Seravo, the Luck Dragon. And he seems surprised to see you. Talking to him can be a bit odd, he seems to constantly be distracted by many thoughts at once, but he finally tells you to go to the mountains and speak with the Forest Witch there.
Regardless of the timeline in which your dreamer finds themselves, the Forest Witch will speak to them. She sounds annoyed that you’re bothering her, but she’ll still answer questions about what happened. The one thing she’ll tell you either way is that it’s been ten years since Vaeros accidentally broke the crystal, and the only way to send you back and fix it is to collect and reassemble its pieces. She’s already collected most of them herself, but she particularly needs help tracking down those in the labyrinth.
(Those in the Whole timeline will run into a unique problem fulfilling the Witch’s quest- the labyrinth is gone! In fact, the crystal fragments you need to collect are buried randomly around the plains where the dragons live. They may be able to find them and dig them up. You may be able to recruit the dragons’ assistance, of course, but either way, it’s gonna be a bit of a scavenger hunt.)
cw: spiders
Once the crystal is healed, the magic that fractured the timeline healed with it, and the dreamers are restored to their original time and place. The cracks in time are gone, and the labyrinth and the palace are back where they’ve always been. What’s more, the magic animating the labyrinth is gone- it can be traversed normally, flown over, and otherwise navigated. However, there does seem to be an odd shimmering sphere of magic protecting the castle. It seems to be impervious to all attempts at entry, magical manipulation, weapon fire, or communication- anything that would cross it simply stops.
The crystal is restored in the present timeline as well, and the Forest Witch can be found studying it and trying to work out how to use it. If asked, she’ll tell you that she thinks she can take control of it away from Vaeros, but she’ll need help; she needs her laboratory to be fixed. It’s been abandoned since Vaeros took over, and she hasn’t gone back for fear of capture. Now that he’s hiding in his bubble, though, she’s willing to set up shop and help to get rid of him. Where’s the laboratory? Well, some of you may have been there before- past the hidden grotto up in the mountains, there’s an abandoned room that seems to adjoin the labyrinth. She’ll need to clean it up and get it working again, and she’ll need your help- particularly with clearing away the spiders- and be careful, the traps are still there.
Welcome to the plotting post for part two of our Intense Event #5! This one's a little more involved, so bear with us!
As you'll note, all characters are simultaneously thrown forward into a different future. This means each character will only be able to pick one. To make this easier to plot around, we're going to have a signup option below, so you can choose which timeline your character will be sent to. If you don't have a preference, or just want to be adventurous, we'll have an undecided option where we'll assign your character a timeline arbitrarily. C'mooooon, it'll be fun!
There will also be two question sections on this post. One will be for the usual OOC questions, of course, and feel free to ask away if you're wondering about anything. The other, however, will be for anything your character wants to ask the Forest Witch while they're talking to her. She's not as grumpy as she seems, so don't worry- she'll totally answer your questions, she'll just grumble about it a little.
We hope you enjoy!
I'm on hiatus but I gotta...
But there is something he's begging to know, after observing her quietly and politely for a few minutes.
"Mm... Can you still see, when you've taken your eye out like that?"
GO AWAY! REST!
She plucks out her eye again, thrusts it uncomfortably close to his own eye, and makes a contemplative noise.
"Yep!"
NO I'M DOING THIS BC IT'S FUN AND I WANT TO
"That's... incredible!" He's never seen any kind of demihuman like her before. There has to be some kind of magical link between the separated eyeball and the visual part of her brain. He wants to ask her all sorts of questions— about who she is, what she is, how she does what she does... But he knows that the other Dreamers are likely relying on this rare opportunity to ask questions that will help them get a leg up on Vaeros the dungeon lord. And he should probably try to do the same.
"Have you been out here the whole time? I mean... Before the rest of us started being brought here. Were you here back when the dragons were at war with Vaeros?"
no subject
She stuffs her eye roughly back into its socket- it's backward at first, and it has to swivel fully around to look at him again.
"Myrta knew not what he had in his mind then. How foolish his ambition. Stupid boy!"
no subject
"He won control over this dungeon through brute force. But he seems to be using magic and trickery to hold onto it, somehow..."
There's an element to it that Laios is missing. Something he can't put his finger on.
"What do you know about wish magic?" Myrta seems to be an expert on how magic works in this world. Surely if anyone would know, it would be her. "Vaeros brings us here by promising to grant our wishes. And then we can wish for things from the crystal, too. Surely, wishes have to have something to do with keeping him in power."
no subject
She picks up a random implement- it's tough to guess at its purpose, it seems to just be a gnarled length of wood carved into an absurd shape for some reason- and prods at his chest, at the point in the armor above where his pendant would hang.
"You fill this, hmm? Fill it with magic. Then pay it to the crystal for favors. The why matters not. The wish is power. All Vaeros needs do is ask more power than he needs to grant it, hmm? Then he keeps the extra power, yes, hides it away. But he spends it every time he changes the world! Idiot boy!"
no subject
"So every time we gain shards on our pendants... Every time we make a wish at the crystal... The energy is going to Vaeros?! And he's hoarding the surplus to reshape the dungeon!?!"
Izutsumi was right... Making wishes is dangerous.
no subject
She drops the tool dramatically to the ground so it clatters and echoes in the cave.
"Idiot boy. All magic has limits, even he should know. Myrta tells him. Myrta warns him."
no subject
And that means...
"This could be the time to strike!"
no subject
She picks up another inexplicable implement and promptly thumps him on the head with it.
"Myrta strikes you, yet it puts no more sense in your head! Striking solves nothing!"
no subject
"Then, if we shouldn't strike at him... What do we do? Do we try to talk to him? To reason with him until he give up the dungeon and lets us all go home?"
Laios isn't the greatest judge of character, but even he thinks that's a slim chance.
no subject
She waggles her mysterious implement emphatically.
"Perhaps the King will agree with you, perhaps he will not. But the crystal is what matters, not the idiot boy."
no subject
"Right, the crystal. We can't do anything until we fix that." At least, that's his understanding of the circumstances they're in. "I'm going to go collect more shards. I'll bring them to you once I find them!"
And then he's headed out!