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

Garden

Otoha wakes up in the middle of a garden. The fact doesn't surprise him - when he 'died' he was also taken to a strange place. This seems no different. The bird gets an odd look, but it's fine. He's probably just unfamiliar, but he's from Shinjuku. He's not familiar with a lot of animals - he's probably more familiar with yokai at this point.

He picks up the potion and examines the bottle. 'Drink me'? ... Sure, why not? He pops it open and downs it in a quick gulp... huh. It tastes... really good. Interesting. He puts the bottle into the pack and looks at the paper scraps.

'Contract'? He's already got one. Whatever. He shoves everything into his(...? Well it is now) bag and shoulders it, wandering through the garden. Some of these plants... yeah, he recognizes them. Others, no. But he has no reason to pick them right now.

"Yurine?" He calls out, his voice a little soft. ... No answer. Hm. Maybe someone else is around?

Town

Otoha eventually finds his way into town, looking around. What... the hell is this place? He wanders through the marketplace, his lanky form dodging around people with the practiced ease of someone who lives in a major urban center. He can't dodge everyone though...

The housing get an appraising look, though he doesn't try to go inside any of them. He does end up wandering through some front lawns, so if you have a problem with the dang kids on your lawn, you might want to shoo him away.

Finally anything selling herbs gets his attention, as does anyone who seems to be carrying them. It's not exactly his area of interest, but it's definitely something that's useful for his 'job'. People might find him either staring at them or quietly following them. You know, like a normal person does.

Wildcard

[Want something else? Hit me up on Plurk (

atrypical) or Discord (artematthew) and we can plot something else!]

[ qifrey pauses, cocking his head at the newcomer. ]

Ah . . . Can I help you?

[Has he been being creepy? He's probably been being creepy. He slows his steps, trying to figure out how to answer this like a normal person.]

... Sorry. ... Just interested in the herbs.

[ qifrey smiles, congenial. ]

You're welcome to ask. You have an interest in plants?

... I do. My role - where I'm supposed to be - is partly as a doctor of sorts. ... I use a lot of herbs in the medicines I make.

[He's still learning, but it's... always going to be a process, he's sure.]

Well, I'm afraid these are more for cooking than medicinal.

But I believe there is a clinic nearby? Perhaps you can volunteer there.

Oh.

[He doesn't really know how to cook... hm.]

Maybe. I... don't really know how to treat normal humans, though.

[Sure we'll just. Casually drop that in there.]

[ qifrey's expression softens a little. ]

Perhaps now is a good time to learn.

Unless you wish to try something else?

It's not like I'm doing anything.

[And he's got a physical body to take care of. He can't rely on the hospital or takeout here, probably.]

True!

But I asked what you would like to do. Surely you have an opinion on that?

[He just stares for a moment. He's... being given an option? By someone who isn't Reiji?]

[... He's not quite sure what to do.]

I don't have much of a preference on things in general. ... No one really asks my opinion.

Well, I am asking. And will continue to do so.

Why not cultivate a preference now that you have a chance to?

I...

[How does he say this?]

I don't know... how. To do that. Usually my brother just tells me what he wants me to do.

[...]

But I'll need to survive on my own if I'm here, so... learning to cook would be a good idea.

Well then! Why don't you come along and I'll show you how to prepare a basic meal.

How does that sound?

That sounds... good.

I'll probably end up burning myself, but that's fine.

[He can't feel it anyway.]

Let's avoid any accidents!

If you'll follow me.

I'll try.

[Maybe? He'll try to try at least.]

[But he follows quietly, possibly suspiciously so.]

[ qifrey merely hums as he leads yosuke to one of the mushroom houses. unlike most of them, qifrey doesn't have electricity or water set up. but he hasn't needed to. there are little floating lights scattered around the house and bubbles of water with handles. which qifrey grabs and brings over to the kitchen. ]

Do you have a favourite food?

[He seems... slightly more at ease. It looks a little like the yokai realm rather than a normal apartment...]

Not... particularly. Usually I just get takeout or someone makes something for me. ... I eat a lot of ramen. ... And things with a lot of carbs to keep me going in a fight.

Well, if you want to be good in a fight, eating healthy is important.

[ qifrey sorts the herbs and vegetables on the counter. he surveys them thoughtfully, tapping his chin as he considers what they can. ]

Why don't we try a little curry and rice?

[He eats his veggies! When he's reminded to eat at all...]

[Hm.]

Curry... sounds good. Simple enough to make?

[It's more a question than a statement, though only the slight rise in his tone indicates it.]

Pretty much! I'll guide you through it.

Why don't you start by washing the vegetables and chopping them up?

[ qifrey loosely gestures to the water bubble. ]

Just use that.

[He stares at the bubble and shrugs. Sure, why not? He grabs one of the veggies and heads to the bubble, sticking it in experimentally.]

Did you... make these?

Hm? Oh, yes.

I am a witch. I can use magic to supplement things in my daily life.

A witch? ... Two weeks ago I would have said that was nonsense, but things have changed.

[He goes to grab a knife to cut up the vegetables. It's... it's a rough chop.]

Yosuke Otoha | Karas | New Character, Existing Player

( herb carrying )

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