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buttrinthum2026-05-02 06:10 pm
May 2026 TDM
Upon arrival, there is no garden. Instead, those who arrive in this world THIS time, find themselves waking in a clearing surrounded by forest. The ground is barren, gnarled by old deep roots protruding from muddy, slick ground. There isn't any kind of breeze, but the air is cool and smells overpoweringly of earth and moisture. The area almost looks as if a patch of bush was torn up from the ground, leaving what's underneath behind. Not a single bird chirps, and the overwhelming silence makes every breath taken or movement made sound all that much louder.
What's more, is the usual kit new Dreamers normally find with them is not present. They will find no potion to drink, no food to eat, nothing. The longer they stay in this clearing the more intense the sensation of being watched starts to creep up, urging them to head into the forest that surrounds the clearing.
Those who refuse to leave the clearing for long periods of time will slowly find themselves succumbing to one of two problems:
- If they have dark colored eyes they will slowly feel more and more paranoid and afraid, the sensation so intense that they will accuse others they are around of doing this to them, setting new arrivals at odds with one another.
- If they have light colored eyes their tempers will flare more easily, a feeling of indignation and rage at being put in this situation bubbling just below the surface, making them all the more ready to fight at the first slight.
But these symptoms ease almost as soon as they step into the forest, which they must do to escape this strange arrival...
- Those who head north will find themselves lost in a maze of mushrooms that when touched puff out spores that can temporarily cause both horrific hallucinations and delightful ones. It's definitely best to avoid disturbing these mushrooms and DEFINITELY not advised to pick them. In this portion of the forest, new arrivals may run into established Dreamers who have been lured into the forest for other reasons. Perhaps they know the way out? Or maybe sticking together in a time like this is better than going it alone. Eventually, where they end up is on the side of the forest pointing back towards Lumindeas.
- Those who head south will find a tunnel magically carved through the forest, one that is just high enough for a 5'6" person to walk through unhindered, but leaving the space cramped for anyone taller. It's almost as if this path was created by something not native to the forest, as any branch or forest creature in this tunnels path has been burnt through violently, sealing the remainder in place to make the tunnel completely safe. The only strange thing about this tunnel is the feeling of dread that pounds down on the backs of those traveling through it, urging them to go through faster and not turn back. Their exit drops them at the very edge of the Night Market.
Strangely, a week after everyone's arrival, the usual supplies they find when they initially wake up will instead appear at the foot of their bed, or the foot of wherever they wake on the 7th day.
Yhaveh Forest is old and ever present in Lumindeas, never growing or changing. However, as if it happened overnight, the forest itself has grown larger, overtaking much of the open land that was once separate. Seravo has sent several of his guard to investigate, but none have returned from the mysterious forest. He offers a large cord payment to Dreamers who are willing to investigate themselves, promising the payment upon the Dreamers telling him of what they see in the forest. He explains simply that the forest has always been a strange anomaly where even his magic doesn't reach, and he himself cannot go.
It is important to remember, however, that no powers work in the forest, so don't travel without being adequately prepared.
- Aboveground the forest is as it always has been, mazelike and dark, never ending. But now, like the clearing in the center of it, there is a forboding pressure of dread that presses in at the base of your spine the deeper one travels into the forest. It's while navigating the bug and forest creature laden forest that Dreamers may encounter new arrivals, lost within the forest after being driven out of the clearing they woke up in. Though new arrivals may have no rations, dreamers may have thought to bring some with them. For those that don't, they will find that the forest will provide, offering edible flower cups full of honeyed water to drink. The drawback, should this or anything else be consumed while in the forest will possibly trigger the forest to open up roots underfoot, dropping hungry souls into the underground. Those who escape getting thrown into the underground will eventually find a path out...
- Underground is different. If possible, it's darker, murkier, the very air thick. Beams of dim light shining into the underground dance with particles and spores, and the light that comes from them only makes the shadows slightly lighter. The real source of light are the bioluminescent mushrooms that dimly glow every color imaginable. These mushrooms are inedible unlike the offerings aboveground, causing mouths to foam if anyone attempts to eat them. The walls of the maze here as well as the floors are made with tightly gnarled roots of the trees above. Tangled within them are bones and corpses that are clearly that of ancient Skeksis, their bones brittle and hollow but hung in an almost decorative way.
Get turned around enough to find yourself deep within the rooted underground will hear the distant beat of a heart that sometimes gets louder, sometimes softer, but the source can never really be found. The biggest threat, however, can be found when the heartbeat is at its loudest. Eyeless, tall, naked pale men stand in the pathways, absolutely still. They do nothing until someone approaches too closely, in which case they will reach out and grab, with the intention to bite their victim...or worse. Splashing them with any liquid will cause them to shrivel and release their grips. For now, they don't give chase.
The only way out here ends in a steep incline up up up up... out into the Labyrinth in Visium. How... interesting.
Meanwhile, Yuraia has found a way to prevent the forest from spreading further. Using stardust chariots, she spirits those dreamers who wish to help deep, deep, deep into lake Termina, far below what should be the lake's natural bottom. There, by breathing using bubbles made of stars, Dreamers are put to work harvesting a golden glowing weed that can then be planted at the border of the forest to keep it at bay. Yuraia says that this plant is unique to a land powered by dragon magic, and can only survive in the soil of Lumindeas. True to her word it will work for now.
That strange amalgamation of worlds that occupied Visium's mysterious island last month has since disappeared, but the island itself is still active. Mysterious figures have appeared in boats on Visium's shore. They appear much like the dragonkin locals of Stellari, though Dreamers may find that the details of their faces, their height and size, even the sounds of their voices are difficult to remember. These islanders don't make much conversation, aside from the way they urge Dreamers to Stellari, where they're setting up a market.
The booths are seemingly endless, transforming the streets of Stellari and stretching all the way out of town toward the Amphitheater. There's an event to be held there this month, but first...
Dreamers can find all manner of wares at these booths - hand-woven baskets that magically fill with fruit, clothing that shrinks or grows in size depending on whose wearing it, potions that temporarily enhances sight, smell, or sound. The options are endless, and Dreamers in both Visium and Lumindeas are drawn to the market to search for rare, magical goods.
Some of the booths are more mysterious. Hooded figures linger behind them. They barely speak, and when they do, their words don't mean much. Even so, Dreamers feel a strong pull to their booths, entranced by their offerings.
Eventually, the path of the market ends, right at the entrance of Lumindeas' Amphitheater of the Mind, where...
- A trinket booth offers an ornate bobble for a low price and the promise of something special. Once the bauble is purchased and placed in the Dreamer's hand, it will transform into something else. It's a special item belonging to the person standing behind the Dreamer in line. The Dreamer has the choice of whether or not to hand it back, but in order to return the item, a memory about it must be shared.
- A fortune-telling booth, featuring a psychic with a deck of beautifully decorated cards, promises an accurate and detailed fortune to any Dreamer who chooses to partake - there's a catch, however. The fortune does not belong to the Dreamer, but the person behind them. It is up to the one who asked for the fortune to decide whether or not they will deliver the news to the Dreamer behind them.
- One particularly strange booth offers to buy painful memories. Dreamers can choose to sell their most painful memories. If they do, they will indeed lose the memory, but it will be transferred to the Dreamer behind them. It will then be up to that Dreamer to choose whether or not to share the lost memory. Dreamers can also buy memories here, paying a price that will cause the person behind them to share a random memory (they will not lose this memory). Dreamers who experiment too long with the booth may be at risk of forgetting the person most important to them for an indeterminate amount of time. They may feel a great urgency to find someone without knowing who it is.
A performance is taking place - and it will be taking place all month, every night a new improv show. Dreamers are assigned one of many roles before they enter each night. The roles may be any number of things, but some favorites include:
- supernatural creatures & hunters
- Coffee shop employee & Customer
- High School Students &/or Teachers
- High Fantasy Courts and Adventurers
- Cowboys
- Royalty
- Pirates
- Spacemen & aliens
- Rock Band
- Mafia/Crime
- or even alternate versions of a Dreamer's role within their own story
Dreamers are expected to perform their roles dutifully, sacrificing anything and everything for the sake of staying in-character. After all, this is essential to crafting the many unique stories the islanders use to entertain during their stay in Lumindeas. Locals from Somnius and Stellari alike flock to the Amphitheater each night to watch the Dreamers act.
From the stage, the Dreamers' experience is quite different. They believe they are truly experiencing the scenario they are performing and are prone to getting lost in their roles. This means that, while within the Amphitheater, they will believe they have truly been transported into another "story", and will believe it is their reality. Upon leaving the Amphitheater, Dreamers will likely be unable to break their delusion and will exist within the worlds of Visium and Lumindeas for a few days (up to the player), believing they are a version of themselves which does not really exist. Perhaps Dreamers unaffected by this could help to snap them out of it?
GARDENS OF DREAMS ??? THE PERFORMANCEPrompt Summary
THE FOREST
THE MARKET
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But why would anyone wipe simply a week from his mind and not anything else? What does it mean that he still remembers the island festival? It's a strange, confusing blur in his mind.]
Mm, you mentioned it causes trouble, last time.
[And it's a relief to hear that falsehoods like that one remain as such. This place has an alarming habit of making bad things come true as well, his friend had said. He can only do his best to avert such a thing, magic available to him or otherwise.]
The rest of this is routine too, then, I take it?
[He gestures in the direction of the floating notebook he's just now noticed. Qifrey doesn't typically use that thing to travel, after all. He must have activated it as transportation for others.]
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No. This time, it's different. The method in which new arrivals show up here . . . it seems to have changed.
That's concerning. This place changes but not by much. And when it does, you take notice.
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So we should be prepared for anything.
[Except...what can he do, without the ability to cast? There's only so far support with cooking and chores can go if Qifrey is expecting a crisis of some sort.]
You should know, I arrived without my casting components. I'll do my best to help with what I can, but...
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But I'm afraid you'll have to earn your own quill and bottle on your own. The only way to regain items and powers from other worlds is to connect with others here and earn shards.
Those shards can be paid to the crystal in exchange for what you want.
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[That's -- unsettling. This crystal turns the lie at the foundation of witch society into a truth; there's now a fundamental distinction, intrinsically, between witch and non-witch. He doesn't know how he ought to feel about that, in the latter category for the first time in his life, nor about the fact that the gap is so easily bridged. The great burden and responsibility of the secret rendered all but moot.]
And you earn these shards from making "connections", huh .... guess something out there's giving me a hint about spending too much time in my workshop.
[rude tbqh.]
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who knows what they would be used for? ]
Maybe you can find new drinking buddies!
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Thank the stars for small mercies.
[His introvert ass cannot be expected to socialize without some lubrication, alright.]
Speaking of which, though -- there was a club you were going to show me, last time. I'm itchin' for a change of scenery.
[please get him away from these nightmare mushrooms,,,]
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The ambience is rather unusual but you might find it interesting.
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The aesthetics are special. I believe the man who owned it based it on his own world.
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[He's hardly about to be picky about where he can get his booze, regardless.]
Are there unique drinks there, too, or is just the atmosphere that's different?
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His world seems to be much more futuristic than others here.
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[Pepperidge Farm unfortunately Remembers that two year gap.]
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But of course I'll share what I know.
[ appropriately amended, of course. ]
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[He never wants to see or think about another leech for the rest of his life, even.]
...But I'd still like to know more about what I've missed.
[About a big part of Qifrey's life that's gone on without him or the girls, a time that he didn't deny was spent without anyone to rely on. Qifrey won't tell him, if it was painful. He's not foolish enough to expect that much. Even so...there must have been moments his old friend would've wished to share, if he could. The least he can do is offer a hand out to bridge that gap.]
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Of course. I'll do my best.
timeskip to the bar?
Good. Lead the way, then. I'm gettin' thirstier by the minute.
on it!
Normally, we have beer and wine but in this bar, they have things like gin and tonic, vodka, scotch.
I feel you might like scotch. They also have cocktails.
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[At least on the list of new experiences he's having today, this will be a fun one, even if it doesn't become a favorite like his willowgrape concoctions back home.]
Should I go ahead and order us two, or do you have your own favorite here?
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Go ahead! Take your time choosing what you might enjoy. I'll be fine.
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Alright. But I'm treating next time, you hear?
[and you are picking for them both then...no excuses old friend he knows u.
--how is he going to make money while he can't do magic? well. that's a problem for
hungoversober olly, who he aims to stop being in short order.]no subject
I'll be sure to put it on a tab. It might be a while until you pay me back.
Although, quests are easy enough. They don't always require magical assistance.
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Quests, huh...that doesn't sound too tough. Good thing, too. Probably a bit late in my life for finding a brand new line of work!
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I was thinking of a community centre.