buttrinthum | TDM #11

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TDM #11

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 nearby, being picked and torn at by a bird- is that a potoo? As soon as the bird sees you approach, it flies off. It leaves behind mangled scraps of bread, a smashed glass vial that seems to have spilled water all over the pack, 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 are scraps of torn, damp parchment, some of which have scrawling, jagged handwriting you can still barely make out:

“Welc” “aby” “r CONTRACT”

You’re in a garden, surrounded by flowers and plants– most of which are mundane, some you cannot identify. However, there are two that stick out: Faerie rings and Rafflesia.

The Rafflesia is easy enough to avoid, its horrid smell easily warning away anybody with a working nose. If for some reason you opt to approach, the only unusual thing you’ll see is that they seem to have attracted swarms of rats. The rats seem territorial and aggressive, but are otherwise unremarkable. The flowers seem similarly mundane. However, anybody who smells the Rafflesia begins to experience an odd fixation- the corpse-like smell of the flower makes you think about your own death. The more you were exposed to the smell, the longer and more intense this preoccupation becomes, from a mild distraction for an hour or so up to full-blown nightmares for the next week.

The Faerie Rings can be seen in the grass scattered throughout the garden, and they’re unfortunately a lot easier to miss. These, it seems, have been planted by the faeries infesting the garden this month, and anybody who crosses through them will catch the attention of the fae. Usually, this will be simple enough; teleporting you elsewhere in the garden, into the labyrinth, or somewhere in the village. However, those who are particularly disrespectful or unsavory might find themselves targeted for more malicious retribution.

Ill Wills and Omens

The tone in the village has changed since Vaeros retreated into his castle. The villagers seem anxious and paranoid, somewhat hostile to the Dreamers- even the newcomers will face their cold shoulder, despite having just arrived- and they’re spending most of their time indoors, except to angrily shoo out an over-curious potoo. They’ve also raided the garden and any shops and stores for all the pumpkins they can get, and overnight they’ve set up a variety of jack-o-lanterns outside their homes and shops. These seem to be intended to ward out evil, and notably, any Dreamer who approaches a warded home will briefly feel a sense that they’re unwelcome, though it’s easy enough to ignore.

Anybody who crosses through the warning zone of a jack-o-lantern and ignores it, however, might find themselves subjected to strange effects.

Jack-o-Lantern Faces
Scary: Jack-o-lanterns designed to look scary will make you indecisive. You’ll be compelled to overthink every decision, no matter how trivial. The worst-case scenario will constantly weigh on your mind, and it will be difficult to accomplish anything.
Funny: Jack-o-lanterns designed to look funny or cute will make you impulsive. Whims and emotions will pass through you extremely quickly, and it may be difficult to focus or stick to plans.
Creative: Jack-o-lanterns with more unique, abstract, or artful designs will make you obsessive. What the obsession may be is dependent on the person; it could be something they already care about, or something that happens to occur to them after they encounter the effect. Either way, it will be all-consuming.
Blank: Pumpkins that haven’t been carved at all do… nothing. Really. Nothing. We promise. Well, nothing internal. But after you get a glimpse of one, you’ve been marked, and the pumpkins will know. You may feel like you’re being watched. You may feel like you’re being followed. You may see a glimpse of orange movement. One thing is certain: The pumpkins are following you. They’re masters of stealth, but you know the truth. You know.

Regardless of which effect you experience, it should wear off after a few hours, a day at most- except for the blank pumpkins. They’re quite persistent, and may stalk you for days or even weeks; the pumpkins are patient and ever-vigilant.

Twinkling in the Darkness

Those who were in Somnius in spring of the previous year may remember- with no small degree of dread- the faeries who invaded Somnius briefly. Last time, they were in a good humor, and their jokes were playful. This time, something seems to have them in a bad mood. There’s no attempt to ask for favors, no negotiation… anybody who crosses the Faerie Rings in the garden might catch their attention, but you might just as easily catch their interest because they didn’t like your attitude or just objected to the look of you. They may simply try to lure you into the labyrinth until you’re hopelessly lost, trick you into more Faerie Rings until they’ve had their fill of you, or simply lay a curse on you.

The curses aren’t nearly so playful this time, either- they’re malevolent. Instead of petty inconveniences, these curses seem targeted to be personal. Somebody with a physical insecurity will find it magnified to draw attention to it. If you fear something about yourself, you may find it magnified and reinforced. If you’re desperate to keep something hidden, it will inevitably be revealed. It’s not clear if they somehow know what will hurt your character, or the curse simply finds it automatically, but it is vindictive and it knows how to hit home.

Fortunately, they mostly keep to the garden and the labyrinth, even when the potoo's around. These curses wear off after a day or so, but by then the damage may well be done.

The Times They Are A-Changing

There are many smaller side effects of Vaeros losing control of Somnius, changes that will last for the foreseeable future. Chief among them is that the labyrinth is no longer magical; it’s a mundane structure, albeit one that seems to have immediately attracted the same hostile fae and oddly-aggressive rats that infest the garden. Best not to meddle too much. Some other changes include:

The Network Devices were powered by Vaeros’s magic. Without him, they’ve depleted to much more limited forms. Around the first day of October, the eye adorning them closes as the magic becomes dormant. Among other things, this means that Network posts will not be available for the time being. Sleepr will also not be taking place. Personal one-on-one or small group communication is still possible via text, voice, or video, as per usual, and old posts are still available to be perused, but mass broadcasts will not be available without Vaeros.
The Crystal can still grant wishes, but Myrta seems to be the one granting them now; she’s trying to work out how to take full control of the thing and undo all the damage Vaeros has done. However, especially now that new arrivals are coming to Somnius again, she’s willing to do her best to grant stolen powers and objects; it only seems fair. Potion powers are also still granted to newcomers. [[The OOC reward mechanic has not changed, only the IC flavor and possibly the tenor of some of the results.]]
Speaking of Myrta, she’s still asking the Dreamers for help in her work. She may send you on missions asking for all sorts of odd things. They might be extremely trivial mundane items that belong to random Dreamers, arbitrary bits and pieces of the setting, or even debris from the labyrinth itself, once the Dreamers start wrecking parts of it. Don’t worry, she won’t ask for anything suspect. (She might become indignant at the suggestion.) Occasionally, she'll pine over her missing bird, almost exclusively when you spot the potoo out of the corner of your eye. Coincidence? Yeah, probably.
The Library now has more books on the world and history of the village before Vaeros took over, now that he’s not actively censoring them. [[Feel free to ask us any questions you may want answers to in our game FAQs!]]

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 the bubble of magic surrounding 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, which is no longer enchanted and will not move or shift to hinder them anymore.

You can find more information about the game here. Any questions regarding the TDM can go under the comment below.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Arrival!

[ If you're near the gardens, you might hear a high pitched squeal of rage coming from nearby. Follow it and you'll find a little black furred creature lying face down in the dirt and throwing a tantrum, flailing his little limbs all over the place.

Once he turns his face enough to see feet next to him, he stops his fit and looks up with a gasp. ] You!

[ Leaping to his feet and revealing he has a skull for a face, he points up at you. ] Tall person! I'm recruiting you into my service! Follow me!

[ He scampers over to a rectangular hedge that he ducks behind, waving you closer and talking in an exaggerated whisper. ] Sssssh! And stay down so they don't see you!

[ He climbs up high enough so he can peer over the top of the hedge and he points at some fairies flitting around. There's also a red potion lying around the ground they're surrounding. ] You see that? I saw it first so that makes it mine! But every time I try and get close to grab it, the fairies make me appear somewhere else! They're devious little creatures.... [ He pops his head up out of the hedge so he can wave a fist at the fairies and shout at them. ] but I will not be thwarted!!!!!

[ The fairies turn in his direction so he pops back down to hide in the hedge again with a little "weh!" Then he turns his attention back to you. ] So here's the deal. You be the decoy and run out there and distract them! Then I'll sneak in and get my potion while they're tormenting you instead! Sounds fun, right??? [ Thumbs up!

King doesn't realize it would help if he didn't try running straight towards the potion... because he crosses over a Fairie ring every time he tries. Oops... ]

Pumpkins!

[ You might come across King jumping out from around a corner and trying to scare you. No one is safe! He jumps out and shouts "BOO!" as loud as he can, holding his hands up in a menacing gesture... and he's got a pumpkin crammed onto his head with little eye holes he's peering out of. Did he steal it from somewhere or did he make it himself? That's his secret and he's not telling! ( He definitely stole a blank one...)

He laughs and plops down on his behind, rolling around with glee. ] Got you! I totally scared you, didn't I? Didn't I??? [ He sits up and pushes up on the pumpkin to get it off his head... but it doesn't seem like it's budging. Uh oh... He pauses then tries again. And again. Aaaand again, making straining noises as he tries to remove it. Finally he gives up and flops over on his back. ] Er... A little help here?

[ You could also find him running up to you and tugging on your clothes insistently, pointing at some place in the distance. ] There!!! You see them??? You see them, don't you??? They're following me!!! They trying to hide... but I still know they're there!!! [ He shouts the last half of the sentence with a fist shake in the direction he was pointing in. ]

Wanted!

[ After King has had his fun and he's ready to go home, he reaches a point where it sinks in he can't get home. So he's drawn pictures of an older lady and teen girl... (Eda Clawthorne and Luz Noceda if you know them!) only... he's drawn them as Wanted posters. They look like a child's drawings and are by no means professionally done, but there's the words WANTED in big letters at the top and REWARD in big letters at the bottom.

It doesn't say anything about what the reward might be. King's just going around holding them up high so people can see them better because he's a tiny fellow. ] You there! Have you seen these people?

[ It's possible you might pick up on a twinge of desperation in his words even though he's trying to play it off as he's totally fine! He's not panicking he's all alone in a completely unfamiliar place! No problem at all! He's not worried! He'll be fine! ]

Edited 2024-10-03 03:18 (UTC)

By the later part of the day, Luz was at least starting to come to terms with Willow's departure. It weighed heavy on her heart, as a lot of things did the past few days. It was a lot, and she was taking a moment to sit on a log, yawning and, in a fit of random, turn into a wolf.

Sometimes you felt like a human, sometimes you wanted to be a wolf, ok?

And for right now, that was fine, and she was contemplating having a run in the forest when she heard a voice. A familiar voice. One that she knew months ago, but this couldn't be true.

No way.

Luz's canine instincts kicked in and she followed the scent, and now she had to RUN, because the smell was nostalgic too and now, with all her might, she wanted it to be true. Stringbean was keeping in stride, and sure enough, as she crossed a dip in the ground, she heard it.

A light weh.

It didn't matter that Luz must have looked pretty fearsome in her wolf form, and even imposing. When she saw who it was, she pounced, knocking poor King to the ground and then a wolf was there attempting a hug she couldn't quite accomplish.

Oh, right!

Wolf Luz appeared to shrink up a bit, and this time, with her humans arms, she did pick up the King of demons and hugged him as fiercely as she could.

"KING!"

All King saw was a wolf running toward him at full speed.

With a surprised WEH??? he turned tail and tried to run as fast as his short little legs would carry him.

Needless to say, he did not get very far before he was tackled. You tried, buddy! He curled up into a ball as much as he could and squeezed his eyes shut tight.

"Nooooo! Don't eat me! I taste awful! And I'll give you really bad hairballs for days! I'm too young to dieeeee!"

"King! Open your eyes! It's me, you doof!"

Luz was beaming down on him, hugging him with every bit of strength she could muster and crying big years!

Losing Willow had been harrowing, but seeing King? Now her mood was all over the place!

King Clawthorne | The Owl House | New Character, Existing Player

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