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buttrinthum2023-02-25 07:43 pm
TDM #2
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, and it simply gives you a welcoming:
“Welcome to my Labyrinth. Per our agreement, you have consented to live your life here for an undetermined amount of time. In exchange, I will grant you the wish that you desire the most.”
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: bluebells and daffodils. When characters wander near the bluebells, they will suddenly feel their body shrinking, becoming small enough to fit into a palm. The daffodils offer less dramatic effects - standing too close to blooming daffodils will encourage a strong desire to be impulsive or try out something they never would have otherwise tried (whether it’s a wild new hobby, or shaving their entire head, or something else). It is said that witnessing a daffodil droop is an omen of death, however. Any dreamer that sees one wilt or droop is slated for death. Whether it’s within the next few days, in a few months, or in a few years - nobody knows when. They will be met with pitiful glances when they finally reach the town and will need to live with the knowledge they are cursed.
It looks like there are plenty of others who are just now waking up from their dream-state as well.. why not go ahead and say hello?
[ The arrival aspect of this prompt is reserved for new characters, but anyone can interact with the garden flowers. The effects will last for a few hours or days. For players that choose for their characters to be cursed to die, there will be many opportunities within the game to traumatize and kill off your character, so feel free to play it out when you want to (or not at all). ]
Somnius, with its weathered cottages and rustic shops, was never a sight to behold, but the effects of the blood moon has left the humble town worse for wear. Houses and shops have been torn down, locals and dreamers alike have been injured, and the makeshift relief area in the church is packed full with survivors being frantically tended to by the limited amount of healers and medical personnel available, their agonized groaning echoing through the town as they recover from their injuries. Who can blame them? The direwolves were trying to eat them alive. If it’s any consolation, all characters have been cured and returned to their original forms, and all direwolves have been wiped out. The damage is done, but the danger is over (for now).
The calls for help continue. All hands are needed to clean up and rebuild the town, heal the injured, keep an account for all the residents, and bury the locals who have perished. A mass grave and funeral has been organised and anyone may attend. Anyone with the capacity to sing, dance or entertain (bards, essentially) would be especially valued in this time, given the low morale.
Despite the clear chaos in the street, the Overseer Vaeros is nowhere to be found, almost like he has abandoned his people in their time of need. If asked about him, the people stay devoted, believing wholeheartedly that their ruler must have had more important matters to attend to.
As spring approaches, the ice and snow finally starts to melt away, and some creatures begin to emerge out of hibernation. The most notable (and cutest) would be the mailmice, a group of small creatures - led by their leader Sir Matthew Mousefield - who manage the mail delivery in Somnius. How they do it is through using an intricate system of underground burrows, ranging across the city and feeding into some homes (in classic ‘mouse hole’ fashion). How did the townsfolk manage their mail before these mice emerged from hibernation? The answer is not effectively.
There is one problem, however. Climbing out of the earth only to be met with a giant direwolf is definitely a stressful experience. The mailmice have lost a few of the early risers, and they are terrified, choosing to hide from perceived threats within the bulbs of flowers.
As cute as the image is, they need to be coaxed out to get the postal system working again. There are several ways to do this:
✿ Gentle handling, soothing words and face nuzzles.
✿Telling the mice an interesting riddle or calming story. Reading a book to them helps also.
✿Entertaining them with a performance. They enjoy a duet or lovely waltz between two.
✿Enticing them with a shiny object or food. They can be quite specific about what object or food they want, so several attempts will be needed.
Characters who have been shrunken down by the bluebell’s effects will be even more successful at coaxing the mice, as they are less of a perceived threat. While yanking them out of the flowers is possible, they will squeal and bite. Any cat-like being is also likely to be bitten. Mousebites are slightly poisonous and will compel the victim to be subservient and people-pleasing for a few hours to a few days.
Characters may choose to fill in as mailmen if they wish. Sir Matthew Mousefield will reward them with a generous wheel of cheese and the tiniest thank you letter (with a seal!).
There’s one group of creatures particularly unbothered by all the mayhem. With the weather warming up, the Fireys have started to party within the forest, their carefree song echoing through the trees. While the gelflings have been devastated by the wolf attacks, the Fireys are completely fine. With their immortal bodies and the awful taste to their flesh, the direwolves took no interest in them, and the ones that did learned quickly that trying to eat a Firey is futile (and more of a funny game to them, than anything). The gelflings are not too fond of those party-loving, untroubled creatures, warning any dreamer to avoid them if possible. They would be right. Anyone who stumbles upon their little party will witness first hand the way they pull out their own eyes and eat them, the way they behead themselves and dismember their limbs and kick those body parts around like playing football. It’s all a game, and no one seems to get hurt, until they decide to force any onlookers to join in.
”Hey, your head don’t come off? What’s with that?!” “I know what we gotta do! Take off that head!”
They will chase any unwilling participants through the forest and try to grab for heads, limbs, noses, eyes and whatever they can get their hands on. The interesting part? When touched by a Firey, body parts do come off, much like dismantling the limbs of a doll. For most people, it’s painless, but for the unlucky few, it’s as excruciating as having it cut off. The Fireys, though? They have no concern for the well-being of others. They will run off with their loot, kicking it around and hiding it, forcing that unlucky soul to go on a morbid scavenger hunt.
It gets to a point the Fireys decide it might be a great idea to spread their idea of fun to the rest of the town (as if Somnius hasn’t been hit with enough already). There is no actual way to kill them, but they can be dismembered and trapped somewhere, and they get bored if their victim evades them for too long.
They will get bored and return to the forest after they’ve had their fill, but not before leaving some chaos in their wake, with this person’s eyes being left on the countertop of that person’s home, or that person’s head being left on the tavern mantle.
Welcome to the labyrinthum TDM! All events are game canon. New characters (invited or not) and old characters alike are welcome to play in it. Existing characters can start their own logs or network posts for the event if they wish to.
New 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.
You can find more information about the game here. Any questions regarding the TDM can go under the comment below. There is an ATP/EMP here for those interested.
Clean-Up!
Seeing Jim, she waves to direct him to her, where she and her pet stand in front of a house with part of a tree trunk collapsed in front of it.] We could use an extra pair of hands here!
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Just... let me know what I can do the help you two. [He said, looking the two of them over, then nodding, as he looked at the mess of this place. And if they don't tell him to help lift this or that with them, he'll just move in to clear things on his own.] It... feels like everything here is ruined.
no subject
More calmly, she grabs an extra plank and props it under one end of the trunk; the other end seems to be stuck on the roof corner.] Let's try to get this down with the three of us.
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If we had rope, it's be easier to pull it off and make sure it didn't fall back in. [He said, but was grabbing a broken board, tossing it to find a long fire place poker, frowning at it and looking for a better strong piece of wood, so he could help her. There.] What caused all this anyhow?
no subject
I used the last of my rope patching up a treehouse; we seem to be thinned out on supplies.
[There's a nod of gratitude for the wood and she starts shifting the base onto the plank, with the big tiger's help.] There... was an attack on the village. We were warned, but the moon still turned red and the wolves came. [She pauses once the trunk's in position, seeming more lost in thought the longer she speaks.] Dozens of them. I lost count how many, but they went for the most vulnerable... most of the villagers were guarded and protected, but we couldn't cover everyone, and still... the loss is...
[She suddenly slaps a hand over her mouth as if remembering a certain sensation. Rajah walks up to nuzzle her palm, which helps her realise she's stalling, so she recomposes and straightens out one of the planks. Just to assure herself it's secure and totally not to insist that she didn't get distracted.]
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[But he does move to try to pry wood in a way under the trunk, and as she talks, he moves to drag a stone to wedge in under it, for leverage, eyes still focused on trying to figure out how to push this off the house with out it falling into the house more. She said they were low on supplies, so there was no point in wishing for rope, so task at hand, he was going to work hard. But...]
[The more she talked the more he glanced to her, frowning. Wolves? And attacking the innocent? The way the beast thing comes to help her as she stopped and covered his mouth. Jim glanced away a moment, looking to kick the rock in more, as if to give her a moment, but said softly.]
That's terrible. [He sounded so serious now, scowling down at nothing.] What did they want? Why attack the villagers? Does it happen often?
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We don't really know. They came when the moon turned red - the residents said we needed to appease it with displays of affection, but it turned red anyway. Some turned into wolves themselves, which we could heal with arrows... but the others, they came from the shadows. The moon itself seemed to form them, so... either we didn't share enough love, or something else caused the moon to change like that.
[Rajah moves under the trunk, preparing to lift it just enough that they can hopefully slide it off the house without damaging the roof more. She nods at her friend and grabs onto the end, speaking once more in a hardened voice.] If you ask me, I think it was the one who brought us here.
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[But as they moved it, he gave a small grunt.] Why would someone bring us here just to... hurt people? [A pause, then he glanced to her, trying to seem less dismissive of her comment.] I'm not saying I don't believe you. I mean more... why? This place is a mess. What's the point of that?
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That is, if Jasmine wasn't too busy fuming to notice this.] Vaeros would clearly rather send us here to do the heavy lifting for him, under the guise of "granting the wishes" we made in our sleep. As if he couldn't stop this with the magic he used to bring us here in the first place.
[She emphasizes the last point with a kick to the trunk, that only manages to lodge the stuck end to another ridge. She groans loudly in frustration.]