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Labyrinthum Events ([personal profile] labyrinevents) wrote in [community profile] buttrinthum2025-05-01 10:11 am
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May 2025 TDM

Garden of Dreams

Whether it be sleep or death, you feel your eyes close, and as your body begins to let go, you see an inky starry nothingness spread out around you. You feel yourself mouth the words, β€œI 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?


Though there is nothing to prove it, you just know you have made a promise, a contract of sorts, with something and someone who remains but a shadow in your memories.

    • πŸ’ Blood Weed is a sharp as razorblades. It grows waist high on a 6'0" tall person in places, but never less than 5" tall overall. Small paths wind through the grass, and those who find themselves waking up near the blood weed will have to carefully navigate through the paths in order to come out without being cut. The cuts themselves are painful, the sensation of pins and needles is accompanied with a burning that reaches deep to the bone. It's not debilitating, not completely, but it will make it harder to escape and more likely a victim will bleed to feed.... the blood weed.

    • 🌸 Witch Hair is a strange plant, soft to the touch and with the scent of marshmallows. If eaten plain it can soothe the ache of blood weed cuts temporarily, but it is far more effective as a medicine when brewed into a potion. The strangest thing about Witch hair is that it only grows at the water's edge, and then weaves over the ground through the blood weed. It's almost as if it is encouraging a sacrifice to save someone else. A cut for a cure. The one side effect of eating the weed raw is that it can give those who ingest it a temporary ability to affect the weather in a small radius around them. Perhaps this too, could be a boon? The effect only lasts a few hours, 48 at most. Maybe there's a way to have fun with it in the meantime?

No matter your adventures in the garden with its many plants, before long you are found by a gaggle of inhabitants from both the City of Stellari and Somnius. They seem excited in general, and excited to see whoever it is they stumble upon without pause. They approach with handkerchiefs of varied colors and wave them about as they take new Dreamer's hands.

"Please, come with us. The games begin soon! You have a team to choose. Don't worry, it'll be exciting!"


The Spirit of Competition

The chaos from last month has settled, leaving a celebration behind in its wake. Officials from Stellari explain that, every year, the city holds a massive event, meant to honor the spirit of competition. This year, they've decided to include Somnius in the competition as well. The crystal-clearing efforts have been fruitful, and slowly but surely, more of Visium is starting to become accessible.

To that end, Dreamers find both Stellari and Somnius transformed, dressed head-to-toe in festival stalls and decorations of red, blue, green, and yellow. Dreamers themselves are all divided into one of four color teams. They are selected automatically, and by traits inherent to their being.

  • Red team candidates are either extremely good, in a moral sense, or extremely bad.
  • Blue team candidates are either extremely emotional or show very little emotion whatsoever.
  • Yellow team candidates are either extremely powerful or extremely weak.
  • Green team candidates are either extremely average or exceptionally special.
A handkerchief of their team's color is magically fastened to every participant, and can only be removed when a game necessitates it, such as capture the flag. It's an important way of identifying who is on what team. You'll want to know who your teammates are, because teammates gain special benefits when interacting, such as increased strength and magical ability. As well as that, people can also communicate telepathically with others from their team for the duration of the event.

By the same token, however, being in close proximity with others who aren't on one's team cause negative effects. Different teams have different effects, depending on their color.

  • Red team members destabilize the emotions of opponents around them.
  • Blue team members bring confusion and disorientation to opponents around them.
  • Yellow team members destabilize magic/abilities of the opponents around them.
  • Green team members bring bad luck to opponents around them.
This is all, of course, in the interest of making the competition more interesting. Each team will also have a home base to work from, with team red's being the Amphitheater of the Mind, team blue's being Lake Termina, team yellow's being the (old) Church of the Moon, and team green's being The Stone Dragon.

For the duration of the festival, teams will meet to face off in various games and challenges, all earning points for their color team. The points are displayed on large scoreboards, stationed over the crystals in both Somnius and Stellari. Ribbons, medals, and trophies are offered as rewards during the celebrations and ceremonies that occur every night for the duration of the event. More than anything, though, the spirit of competition drives everyone, compelling them to dive headfirst into the games and give it their absolute best.

Some of the events are as follows, though pretty much any sport you can think of is offered - even ones one may recognize only from their own worlds.

  • 🀾Dodgeball
  • 🚩 Capture the Flag
  • πŸƒβ€β™€οΈ Relay Races
  • 🏊 A Triathlon
  • πŸ™ˆ Hide & Seek
  • 🫱 Tag
  • πŸͺ’ Tug-o-war
  • πŸ₯‡ Obstacle Courses
  • πŸ”΄ Kickball
  • ❓ Etc.

So, get out there and start battling it out - just not to the death this time!

Living Scavenger Hunt

Perhaps the largest event of all is a scavenger hunt in which the items are other Dreamers. Competitors are given a scroll with a list of descriptions, and are asked to seek out other Dreamers who fit those descriptions, and get a signature from them.

The list is as follows:

  • πŸ”Ž 1. someone who can fly
  • πŸ”Ž 2. someone who has never killed anyone
  • πŸ”Ž 3. someone who has killed more than ten people
  • πŸ”Ž 4. someone who can turn into something other than an animal
  • πŸ”Ž 5. someone who betrayed someone they love
  • πŸ”Ž 6. someone who saved the world
  • πŸ”Ž 7. someone who wants to leave this place
  • πŸ”Ž 8. someone who never wants to leave this place
  • πŸ”Ž 9. someone who sacrificed their powers to Vaeros
  • πŸ”Ž 10. someone who arrived after Vaeros' death
  • πŸ”Ž 11. someone older than 30
  • πŸ”Ž 12. someone younger than 15
  • πŸ”Ž 13. someone who didn't drink their gold/blue/red potion
  • πŸ”Ž 14. someone who has drunk more than one gold/blue/red potion
  • πŸ”Ž 15. someone who has returned to their world, then returned to this place

Dreamers then sign their name next to the descriptor on the competitor's scroll. Magic compels them to be honest when confronted, and to give their signature even if they're unhappy to do so.

There is also a variation of this game, though much smaller in scale. Dreamers draw slips of paper with descriptions written on them, then pass them off to others who match that description. Some of them include:

  • πŸ’– Someone you admire.
  • ❌ Someone you hate.
  • 😱 Someone you're afraid of.
  • πŸ«‚ Someone you trust.
  • 😳 Someone you wish to know better.
  • πŸ˜– Someone you need to apologize to.
  • 😊 Someone you're glad you met here.
  • 😑 Someone you're angry at.
  • 😨 Someone you're worried about.
  • πŸ€• Someone who hurt you.

Dreamers feel compelled to respond honestly, and genuinely give their slip of paper to whoever they think of first, even if it's something they wouldn't normally confess.

Both games last the duration of the festival, the Scavenger Hunt promising a massive amount of cords for anyone who can complete the entire list, as well as a medal.

The Gametime Jubilations

Competitions can't be competitions all the time. Players need rest, the crowds need sustenance. But even though breaks are needed, parties never have to stop. Throughout the month-long Games, there's a Celebration along with it. Both Lumindeas and Stellari as well as Somnius are partaking in the celebration. No matter where dreamers wind up during this celebration, there's not a single location where Natives aren't doing their best to partake in a party that never ends.

The feeling and goodwill that comes with the games and camaraderie is infectious, and even the locals from Somnius are feeling more forgiving of Dreamers than they have in months. They visit Stellari while those who live in Stellari visit Somnius. It's the mingling and shared celebration that simply seems to warm up the town that has so long been alienated by crystal. With the glowing feeling of camaraderie in the air and the collaborative efforts to revive the land of Visium, everywhere seems to be in good spirits.

  • πŸͺ© Dancing and Singing

    There's music in the air and lights that shine on dance floors. It's hard to mistake the purpose of these portions of the celebrations, but everything is a game, even between the organized events. Every dance floor is a setup for a partnered dance competition. The genre is different in each location: romantic slow dancing, upbeat country music for line dancing, pop type music that thunders through the air and vibrates through the floor. The possibilities are endless, but the competition is stiff. Locals are paired with other locals, and dreamers with dreamers and everyone gets into the spirit, sweating and swaying to the music.

    For more organized events there happens to be a cake walk, where dreamers and locals alike are encouraged to participate and win one of the many fruit flavored cakes. Be careful to not land on the same space as a competitor, or you'll both be eliminated and recieve a pie to the face! Don't worry though, towels and a change of clothes MIGHT be offered as consolation prizes.

    For those that don't really feel the dancing beat, there's another way to compete for a little fun. Open mic is provided in some of these dancing locations, with magically powered instruments provided by Seravo himself. A simple request, a song title, and the instruments know the song to be played. Or perhaps in some cases a little poetry might be more someone's speed. In any case, the microphone is ready, the band primed to play.

  • πŸ” Food and Socalizing

    It's a bit of a task to get nourishment as well. There are food stalls installed in both cities, though every one comes with a bit of a game or competition in order to get your delicious sustenance. Those who approach the stalls of different kinds of food will be asked to win a compliment war with the guest next to them before their order will be fulfilled. Offer a compliment before the timer is up to win the competition against your chosen competitor. Each round you only get a certain amount of time to think up a compliment, with each round decreasing until no time is left. It might take several rounds before the attendant of the food stall feels inclined to hand over their delicious creations. Of course, once the game is over a plate or drink will be offered. If you want seconds, however, you're going to have to fork over another win.

    Other ways of getting your tummies filled include participating in eating contests, several of which are set up throughout various locations. Burger eating, hotdog eating, even ice cream and cake or drinks themselves, the varieties of things offered are endless. Lucky dreamers might even find foods that are unique to where they come from. ...if a bit off. Its hard to make things exactly the same when the ingredients might be scarce.

    If you're looking for a spot to relax while eating, there are tables and chairs aplenty. There is one catch, though. In order to sit and eat, one must play. Play what, you ask? Musical chairs. Both Dreamers and locals alike are encouraged to participate in a game of musical chairs with their tablemates, while eating of course. The winner will be given a small ribbon to remember the game by.

Well, perhaps even celebration can all be a competition after all.

OOC

Expand to see our Event Summary Garden of Dreams
  • Dreamers arrive in the enchanted garden, after making a wish in their sleep / at their time of death
  • Blood weed grows, as sharp as razorblades. Dreamers must move through the thickets, avoiding being cut; the cuts are extremely painful.
  • Witch hair also grows, and can be used to heal the cuts from the blood weed. Ingesting it also allows the user to control the weather for a short period of time.
The Spirit of Competition
  • A festival is being thrown across both Visium and Lumindeas, celebrating the spirit of competition.
  • Dreamers are all divided into four color-based teams, red, blue, green, and yellow, depending on certain traits they possess (see section for list - players choose which team their character will be on).
  • Members of the same team can communicate telepathically, and increase each other's physical and magical abilities when they are close.
  • Dreamers will experience negative effects when interacting with members of other teams (see section for list).
  • There are several events for Dreamers to participate in (see section for list), and all feel compelled to compete and give the competition their best effort.
  • Rewards are medals, ribbons, trophies, and sometimes cords.
Living Scavenger Hunt
  • Dreamers are all given a list with descriptions befitting of other Dreamers. They must locate these other Dreamers, and get their signature next to the descriptor they match (see section for list).
  • Dreamers may also participate in a game where they draw a slip of paper with a descriptor on it, and hand that slip of paper to someone that it describes (ie: someone you like; see section for list of suggestions)
  • All feel compelled to be honest in their selections, or if they are confronted
The Gametime Jubilations
  • For the duration of the competition, there is a 24/7 festival, offering games, food, dancing, etc.; in every corner of Visium and Lumindeas, people seem to be participating in this festival.
  • There are various competitions like dance competitions, a cake walk, open mic/karaoke competition, etc.
  • To be served food, Dreamers must engage in a compliment war against each other, offering compliments within a time limit to win enough points to eat. There are also several eating contests (pies, hot dogs, etc.)
  • To sit with your food, you must play musical chairs (while eating)

A note that teams are ICly selected automatically for characters, but OOCly, we will not be assigning teams. Simply choose whichever team you think suits your character best.

Feel free to ask questions underneath the correct header! We also request of current players that most playing with the event happen on the event post so that those looking to TDM have a chance to play in all of the varied games and competitions we have provided! Overflows will be provided when and if needed.

diedeliberately: (forsythia 33)

ii

[personal profile] diedeliberately 2025-05-02 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
[Neil hears the message from a city away, intrigued by the unfamiliar voice.]

Oh. Hello.

Sorry, I'm...not sure which "her" you mean, but I think it's the competition that allows us to communicate. You're on team red, I'm guessing?
unkindled_madness: (a moment)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2025-05-02 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
[He'll get no real answers here either, will he?]

Β« Such magic for mere children's games. Β»

[As if he would be on a team.]
diedeliberately: (15)

[personal profile] diedeliberately 2025-05-02 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh...]

You're disappointed?

[That's no good, but...it sounds like a grown man he's talking to. Neil is young and average enough to still see adults as authority figures. He can't push too hard...]

I've really been thinking of it more like the Olympics. There are a lot of adults playing along too.
unkindled_madness: (appraisal)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2025-05-02 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
[He's not going to answer that. Of course he's disappointed. There is no Jenova and no explanation. And yet he doesn't want the quiet.]

Β« I'm unfamiliar with any Olympics. Β»
diedeliberately: (forsythia 21)

[personal profile] diedeliberately 2025-05-02 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
Oh! Well, it's a sports competition much like this one - just larger. Nations compete instead of neighbors like us.

People train for years to prepare. Winning anything is a great honor.
unkindled_madness: (unimpressed)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2025-05-02 12:57 am (UTC)(link)
Β« Is there any point to competing, beyond the honor of being the greatest at... throwing balls? Β»

[It's very likely he also doesn't know what any of these games are called, though he'd be disparaging either way.]
diedeliberately: (forsythia 67)

[personal profile] diedeliberately 2025-05-02 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
[Well, when you say it like that...]

It's fun. If that counts for anything.

[That might have sounded even just a little bit sassy, were it not for sounding so pitiful instead. If this were a competition, he'd be losing, already defeated.]

A mentor of mine said once that sports are an opportunity for other people to push us to excel. There's some value in that, surely.
unkindled_madness: (talking)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2025-05-02 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
[Pathetic though it is, it's... not a way anyone has spoken to him in a long time. This boy has no idea what he is. It's almost amusing.]

Β« Perhaps it's for those without the internal drive to excel. Β»
diedeliberately: (forsythia 64)

[personal profile] diedeliberately 2025-05-02 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
You don't think an internal drive to excel naturally lends to a sense of competition?

[Getting mouthy again, Neil? Hardly.]

Sorry. I don't mean any disrespect.

I'm afraid you might not have much of a choice about participating, though. That's how things like this tend to work around here, isn't it?
unkindled_madness: (looking down)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2025-05-02 01:37 am (UTC)(link)
Β« Competition requires a worthy opponent. Β»

[He's aware he's been stripped of many if not all of his powers, but the idea of being equal to anyone is just... inconceivable.]

Β« What could possibly be the consequences of refusing to participate in games which already involve running and hiding? Β»
diedeliberately: (forsythia 98)

[personal profile] diedeliberately 2025-05-02 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
[Yeesh. Someone here's feeling a little too big for his britches, aren't they?]

I'm not sure. I just know that the consequences here can be significant.

You don't happen to be new, do you?
unkindled_madness: (appraisal)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2025-05-02 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
[In a very literal sense, there's no way pants would fit him at the moment! But being able to fly is about all he has going for him.]

Β« To this world, yes. Β»
diedeliberately: (forsythia 115)

[personal profile] diedeliberately 2025-05-02 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
Ah. Well. Welcome.

[He sounds like he really means that - and he does!]

It isn't that this is a terrible place, or anything like that, but there's a lot of magic here that can make things tricky.

Honestly, a sporting event is pretty tame compared to what's gone on the last couple of months.
unkindled_madness: (curiosity)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2025-05-02 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
[That is funny, to be welcomed sincerely.]

Β« What has happened the past few months? Β»
diedeliberately: (forsythia 35)

[personal profile] diedeliberately 2025-05-02 06:07 am (UTC)(link)
Well, just last week the whole place was filled with doppelgangers and monsters that attacked at every turn.

A couple months before that, a disease spread that killed you if you didn't tell the truth.
unkindled_madness: (curiosity)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2025-05-02 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Β« How curious. Β»

[Does he sound like he would have enjoyed monster attacks more than dodgeball? Yes.

It's also quite a difference. A festival is a festival. Those sound more like trials, or curses.]


Β« And yet, they were tame enough for you to survive them. Β»
diedeliberately: (forsythia 54)

[personal profile] diedeliberately 2025-05-03 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
I didn't leave my house much...

[Neil's lucky to have survived. Compared to everyone else here, he's utterly average. He knows that.]

I'm wary, though. It's hard to predict what might happen next.
unkindled_madness: (what does it matter...?)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2025-05-03 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
Β« I suppose I'll accept your warning, such as it is. Β»
diedeliberately: (forsythia 46)

[personal profile] diedeliberately 2025-05-03 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
[What more can he ask for, really?]

It was nice talking with you regardless - if you consider this talking, anyway.

My name's Neil Perry.
unkindled_madness: (curiosity)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2025-05-03 02:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[An introduction. Sephiroth doesn't anticipate this boy will have great utility, but there's no reason to discard him so hastily when he seems so eager to please.]

Β« Sephiroth.

And why should this not be talking? Β»
diedeliberately: smile (forsythia 30)

[personal profile] diedeliberately 2025-05-04 05:24 am (UTC)(link)
[Eager to please, indeed. It's the story of his life.

[To that end, if telepathy can convey a laugh, it does now, and he laughs out loud too.]

Well, I'm not using my voice. It's not even like being on the telephone. You're right there inside my head.

Maybe that isn't amazing where you're from, but it is where I'm from.
unkindled_madness: (talking)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2025-05-04 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Β« I would hardly call it commonplace. But it is far more direct than mere speech. Β»

[Superior, he might say, although this particular means is lacking compared to what he's used to. He can't reach any further into this boy's mind, only accept what he chooses to communicate.]
diedeliberately: (forsythia 33)

[personal profile] diedeliberately 2025-05-04 09:40 pm (UTC)(link)
So, you are used to this?
Edited (slight rewording) 2025-05-04 21:42 (UTC)
unkindled_madness: (didn't want to be here)

[personal profile] unkindled_madness 2025-05-04 10:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Β« To an extent.

I am unused to it being a result of someone else's magic. Β»
diedeliberately: (forsythia 18)

[personal profile] diedeliberately 2025-05-06 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
I'm not used to magic at all.

[He hasn't forgotten the "her" this man mentioned when he first sent out his message, but he doesn't find it at all his business to pry about it.]

I think most people lose theirs when they first get here. They have to wish for it back.

So I've heard, anyway.

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