buttrinthum | TDM #1

Entry tags:

!tdm

TDM #1

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 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: poinsettias and mistletoe. You’ll soon find out that being around the poinsettias give you an odd sense of joy no matter how confusing the situation may seem and the mistletoe, which is left over from the holiday season, gives you the desire to kiss or hold hands with the nearest person to you. 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?

Somnius / Snow Angels

With the influx of new life, the humble town a barkeep tells you is called Somnius seems to come alive as well, with new faces to join that of the resident fairies, goblins and other townfolk. There’s bustling energy to the land that the townfolk will tell you wasn’t quite there before, and some suspect that the presence of the new arrivals might be powering the world around them in some way - but that’s a question to be answered on another day. The quaint town of Somnius needs a little bit of care, that rustic feel to the mushroom houses, old shops and weathered castles too evident at first glance, but it’s not a bad place to live, as the locals will tell you. It almost seems like everything will be okay…

But of course, things are never so simple.

Whether you have been wandering around to get your bearings, talking to the locals or exploring your new humble (very humble) abode, you can expect to find mysterious ice sculptures - fashioned in the shape of snow angels, with blades in their hands - appearing in random places around the town. There are some that manifest in the middle of the street, some that sit quietly at the edge of an inn, and even some that appear right beside your bed, staring at you as you wake up. It’s unclear how these sculptures even got here, but close proximity to them will conjure up feelings of unrest, like you should not step any closer.

It’s smart to trust your gut in these situations. Step too close to a snow angel and it will come to life, moving with the grace of flowing water. They make a vague request and will spare only those able to heed it.

“Cold … so cold … Even the days of Visium are so cold. Have you any warmth to spare us?”

Some angels will accept an article of clothing as warmth. Others are greedy and keep demanding more, wanting to take everything that you have on your body. Heed their requests and they will spare you. Resist even just a little, and that’s when they draw their swords.

It’s not too easy to defeat an angel with brute force given that they reform themselves immediately. Running away or blasting them with fire could do the trick. Be careful not to get cut by their blades, however…

Characters who get cut by their blades will experience an inconsolable sense of chill and emptiness, right down to their bones. They will find themselves desiring ‘warmth’ from others in different ways - whether through physical contact, or affectionate words and gestures. There might be the few who go feverish in their desire for warmth. For those characters – the open fireplace is looking like a very tantalizing place to sit in right now (Yes, sit in, not by). They might even feel compelled to pull a friend in with them. That can’t be good for anyone…

The effects will only subside if the condition of receiving ‘warmth’ is met. This can be in the literal sense (physical warmth and intimacy) or figurative (feelings of love, acceptance and happiness).

Bonfire

When night falls, the temperatures only drop further, which does no favours for the poor souls who had to give up their clothing. The locals want to welcome the new arrivals and give everyone an opportunity to unwind from a busy and chaotic day of being hunted by snow sculptures. That’s why they’ve set up a gathering in the middle of town square. Food and alcohol is being generously supplied by The Cask & Anvil, and marketplace vendors have set up pop up stands to try and cajole the new arrivals into purchasing some fancy new clothes or a pretty gemstone they claim will ward off danger (claims not verified).

At the center of it all is a large bonfire that’s warming up the square. Everyone is encouraged to warm themselves by it after a long day, eat, and make merry. In fact, there’s a certain sense of enchantment to the crackling fire that seems to draw even the shiest wallflower in, pushing them to sit with others and make conversation. As the night goes on, the newly arrived dreamers will find themselves settling easily into the warm and bustling mood, any stresses and anxieties melting away. With time, they’ll start to find themselves without a filter, more than happy to talk about themselves and the life they had led prior to coming to Visium. In fact, they will feel compelled to share a story from their past - one that might be joyous, comedic, thrilling, or tragic. Whatever sorts of feelings come attached to their story, it will be one of emotional significance.

In the back of their minds, they might get the sense someone else is listening.

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 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 - though characters will not be able to clear the maze. Please comment here to request an outcome for your character's labyrinth exploration and a moderator will get to you shortly. (The longest a character can stay in the Labyrinth is 3 days.)

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

Page 91 of 147

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

On that, we can agree. [A serious look falls over Maleficent's narrow features.] Once I have regained my power, I should hardly need them to listen... but simply be present for my fury.

It’s fine, it’s fine.

[If he says it enough times it might be true. Positive thinking and all that.

It’s not working with fixing the library, as Minato reminds him. Speaking of a library without a catalogue makes Elias pull a face like the :grimacing face: emoji (😬).]

We can’t really expect a small town of strange creatures to know about archival… […] …what kind of prank?

[Not that he doesn’t believe Minato, he just can’t wrap his head around what the prank would be about.]

[He doesn't sound particularly fazed by that tone, at least. Shinji's dealt with sketchier people.]

I dunno, prisoners don't exactly get to make bargains for wishes.

Tt. Your faith in the legal system is astoundingly juvenile. Criminals escape justice all the time due to police ineptitude and legal corruption. Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys don't care about the truth.

[Again, he... look, he grew up in Gotham.]

[ It's not too surprising that Geto would be able to make that assumption, even that sorcerer teachers come few and far between. The use of 'Satoru', his teacher's first name that is used to infrequently it's sometimes easy to forget there's a man beneath the heavy weight of the moniker ('the strongest'), certainly does more to confirm Megumi's assumptions. The two of them had some sort of relationship. They were good friends, probably, before whatever it is that happened, happened, and put Geto Suguru on the path toward killing all those people. Of course, he doesn't condone such a thing at all. However, Megumi's the type to save his emotions only for those that he cares about, and he's fortunate to not have lost anyone important on that day. That's why his response isn't as visceral as it ought to be. That's why he finds himself curious, instead - about this part of Gojo's life he's been left in the dark about. Curious why this person who has killed so many people is radiating a sense of warmth towards him. ]

He's the one who enrolled me. [ Found him. Pulled him out of a destitute life and protected him from the Zenin. While Megumi reveals none of that, his eyes soften when he thinks about that man.

Cautiously, Megumi gets up, resting his hand in the one stretched out to him. He's careful in his actions, tail still down and puffed up like he doesn't quite trust his person yet, but he has a sense the offer for help is genuine. Just that contact is enough to plant a seed of warmth, staving off the inner chill.

Megumi's quiet when he walks after that, eyes on the ground and pensive. He has many curiosities, and he eventually decides to satisfy them. ]

What's your relationship with him?

[He has long accepted he speaks in a way that is atypical to the rest of his peers and attempts to not feel unsettled by it. He simply knows no other way to be.]

Your logic is sound. Perhaps I should have aligned myself differently, but I do not regret the path I have chosen. At least we are both airing our flawed social skills together.

[He is trying to show camaraderie, but perhaps this is not the topic to do it with.]

...Have you found yourself alone here as I have? I had thought to be brought to such a place it would be more connected to my role in my own world, but I have found none of the others that would also be affected thus for the same reason.

[ Megumi's been averse to touch since he was a child, even toward the sister he grew up with. He doesn't quite know why he is that way, but it probably has something to do ... a lack, in his early childhood. He would push off his guardian's hands when he was 7, and he never eased up on that, continuing to shrug off any sort of touch. Something like what they were doing would be inconceivable to him if the man were human ...

But he's not human. There's no immediate embarrassment he feels associated with it. Only comfort and affection in its purest form. Megumi allows the large cat to settle in his lap, resting his hands on Gojo's fur and stroking him idly behind the ears. ]

It's so loud ... [ The purring. It's resounding through his guardian's feline body, rumbling deeply and softly. The vibrations were soothing beyond belief. With how much he knows about cat behaviour from his reading, he knows that cats do this when they feel happy, relaxed and trust the person they are with. That ... doesn't come as too much of a surprise, but he still feels that sense of warmth when the thought crosses his mind. He trusts him. They have a bond. Well, of course they do, with how many years it has been. ]

Are you about to fall asleep?

[Damian watches the angel sizzle up, and - fine, okay. Not a rookie. The solution was a clever use of their limited resources, and Damian looks at the other boy's body language, the way he wheezes with pain.

Injured. That explains his sluggishness. Damian has grown as a person, which is why his immediate reaction isn't to berate the boy for fighting anyway, instead of letting a professional handle it (him, he's the professional). Well, that is his immediate mental reaction, but it's not what he does, because he's clearly made his injuries worse.

He'd need to take a closer look to specifically address how.]

You're injured. [He looks around the street and finds... what looks like a bar. That'll do. He offers his arm.] Lean on me. Complain or refuse and I'll knock you on your ass and drag you. I've got medical training, so I can help you.

This world or your own world? What do you mean by past?

It's a pretty basic request.

[Damian... feels like normally he would have yelled at her. He would. That would be his normal emotional response. Instead, he... also can't snatch his hand away, and instead feels a bizarrely strong urge to hold this stranger's hand.

This is. Humiliating.]

Would you stop shaking?! I can't let go either.

[Humiliating.]

Edited 2023-01-09 12:48 (UTC)

[This will be a long and rough journey it seems.]

Well, I'd avoid the mushroom houses. They weird me out. [And it comes from someone who'd sleep anywhere instead of camping.] I did find one treehouse that looks decent.

I don't know how much we can do about magic, it feels very... limited.

of course
it's MY home and there are people in it worth saving
lives are always worth saving
And just because it's hard to find a solution, it doesn't mean there isn't one

[It's what he wants to believe]

yeah, something that's been running in my family since, like, forever
long story

[It's also just kind of hard to have camaraderie with Shinji who desperately tries to avoid it, honestly, both for his own sake and others'.]

Like I said, man, I ain't shit where I'm from. Don't got a role.

[He shrugs]

Probably for the best I ain't seen anyone I know, though. Still not convinced this ain't some kinda weird afterlife.

[you wanted to talk to this depressing eeyore man, seiji, you did this to yourself,,]

Oh yeah? Well it's pretty commmon where I come from! I think most last names used to start off as being like titles long ago, but over time it all changed so that it just reflects the family you're part of.

[A sheepish smile.]

But I guess my name can sound like a title for my job too. Cause I am a detective, pal!

Here I thought it was part of the standard uniform! [But he guesses he can see how it would get in the way, now that he thinks about it, as cool as capes must be.]

So you really are some kinda costumed here? What do they call you? [He squints at his outfit.] ...Blue Bird? Birdie Blue? Blue... Hawk...?

Hold it, pal!! You couldn't be further from the truth! Mr. Edgeworth ain't like that! He's all about pursuing the truth above all. ...And I guess that Phoenix Wright guy's dedicated to that too. In fact, we've taken down quite a few corrupt figures who were like what you're talking about! We- we're the good ones, I swear!!

Not really a wizard. My family always had this affinity to absorb elements and then use them like elemental blasts.

[He wanted to say "elemental grenades" because that's what they are but he tones it down a little. It's still true what he said.]

Yeah, I have work to do back home, it's all a big mess. And without me around, well, there's not a lot of people [if any] who could fix it.

[ that energy -- all of it, and this jolly fellow in particular reminds kakashi of guy, full of life and optimism; it's a welcome change. ]

Dick Gumshoe, huh. [ he squeezes his hand in greeting. ] I'm Hatake Kakashi. It's nice to meet you.

[ he glances over at the garden. ] Are you new here as well?

[ it is a kindness, however small. it isn't necessary to trot out information that won't be of use to another, and if haku doesn't ask, kakashi won't tell. their deaths are a tragedy, but in the end, they had passed together, buried beside each other -- honoured as shinobi.

i hope they were good to you, haku says kindly, and who can say? the years are what they are, and kakashi's only regret is that he couldn't experience more of it with the eye that obito had given him; that he couldn't live more, much more of it for the sake of his friend, who had died too soon all those years ago. he can't help a bittersweet clench in his chest, but ah, regrets and wounds are what shinobi carry with them every day, right to their deaths.

so maybe this isn't so bad, whatever this place may be.

he comes up beside him and wonders, his gaze lingering briefly on haku -- and he wonders if rin will say the same thing, wherever she is. he looks over at the garden, then; taking it in. ]

Not quite. A lot of these plants here aren't native to our world.

[ ...well, you know, there are two types of people. ]

[ haku nods, though he points to the poinsietta because he recognizes the flowers. ]

I've never seen a garden like this, but those are poisonous. Not enough to be particularly useful, but if you need to induce vomiting or mild sickness it can come through in a pinch.

[ they are, at the end of the day, both products of their world. ]

I feel so light here, though. Almost... too light? Unburdened. Like how they tell you death is, I suppose.

[ but it's to a degree that's almost artificial, haku feeling less than in perfect control of himself which is more unsettling than standing here after death, with someone he once fought against, also dead. ]

Do you think there's a threat? [ some sort of jutsu, some sort of trap. what is their purpose here? why promise people like haku, people like kakashi anything at all? they are ultimately little more than instruments of war. is that the point?

he wonders if kakashi is thinking the same, and without realizing it, haku curls his hand around the corner of kakashi's sleeve as he might on a normal day with zabuza, absently worried the man might wander off in the market square without him. ]

[Oh, you've got to be kidding.]

[Katsuki takes a good, hard, long look at this goddamn weirdo that just sauntered up to him and wonders what the fuck he did...r-recently...to deserve all this. Can he not have a moment of goddamn peace to ~~sulk~~ think? As if nearly getting shishkabob'd wasn't enough, now he has to deal with all this shit.

And a mascot character, on top... Ugh, she even has fucking. Dad jokes. He'd have been better off dying in that hospital bed than enduring this hell. Literal hell, it seems, if this devil chick is here to reap his soul or what the fuck ever.]

No.

[To both. Now move along.]

[Those plants sure are doing their damnedest, which is why Katsuki hasn't gotten overly upset. He wasn't even trying to be rude, either - just honest. He's a logical person, just very cutting sometimes with how sharp he can be. With a slow and uneasy exhale, the tension does loosen from his shoulders and the blond grunts. My god, he hates being on the receiving end of the "victim" parade. It's so beyond what he's used to - he's a fighter, a Hero, and is usually the one doing the saving, so he's...not accustomed to it. Even in their training courses at school, he was never the rescuee, he was always the rescuer.

It's a hard pill to swallow, but he chokes it down with a scowl and a softly muttered string of curses under his breath.]

I know my limits... What I can handle, what I can't. If I need help... [He grinds his teeth together. Do better, be better--] ...I'll ask for it.

Amy will go further and further into the maze until...

She feels the ground give out beneath her. Down she goes, which might be startling, but she lands safely on what seems to be a bunch of comfortable pillows. She'll find herself somewhere that is pleasant and familiar.. and the more things play out, the more she will notice that this is a memory of hers. It's a pleasant memory from any point of time. She will get to experience it until she is unconscious and wakes up back in the Enchanted Garden.

[ before gojo satoru became the strongest, gojo was his best friend first -- the one and only. they were inseparable, up until the point where one is rarely seen without the other. of course, things changed after gojo's meteoric rise, propelling him far, far out of geto's reach.

geto had lost him first, then himself. or perhaps it's the other way around -- but ah, it doesn't matter now, does it?

the boy before him doesn't know these things, and it's clear that gojo has never spoken about him. with good reason, he supposes; it's not the best topic to broach. but it seems gojo has become someone beloved to this impassive boy; it's subtle, but he can see the softening in his dark eyes when he talks about him, and geto wonders if gojo has ever told him about toji and how the man is responsible for the very first, very bitter defeat.

he can't tell, either way; but it's becoming clearer that somehow gojo might actually have taken this boy under his wing.

when megumi takes his hand, all geto does is help him up, fingers curling around his. he doesn't let go, not when those fingers feel like ice, so cold in his hand. he's aware of what the snow sculptures do, having observed them in action with others, and he imagines megumi might have had a run in as well, perhaps.

he lets the silence hang between them as they walk along, geto stretching it further as he contemplates megumi's question. he can lie, deflect, or ultimately not answer, but that's pointless, and geto doesn't like doing pointless things (genocide aside).

hmmm.

he speaks quietly, after a few moments. ]

He was my best friend. [ his partner, the other half. was. he wonders if it still holds true now, even after what gojo said at the end.

then, more lightly, he continues. ] As you can imagine, it is quite the feat. Your teacher does not exactly endear himself to many.

[ fondly spoken nonetheless, because there's a charm about that, too, and they both know it. ]

Is that the answer you're looking for?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 91 of 147

TDM #1

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

mistletoe

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject