![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labyrinmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
buttrinthum2023-01-01 04:59 pm
TDM #1
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?
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).
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.
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.
no subject
Let me tell you, it's like something else! A spirit medium does some mystical stuff, and they let a dead spirit take over their body! Some of their, uh, features can even change to match whoever's possessing them. Its legal application has been kinda iffy, but some people have used it to testify from beyond the grave!
no subject
That must make accounts so much simpler!
no subject
[He rubs at his head uncertainly.]
Oh, but there are some dangers and risks associated with it! It's not always as convenient as you might think. Bad spirits might try using someone's body to cause trouble, or even good spirits have been known to lie sometimes.
no subject
This Fey family must be very powerful to be such well-known handlers... I mean, channellers.
no subject
[He shakes his head, but he keeps a jovial smile on his face as he talks due to the poinsettas.]
Heh, you said the wrong word at first! Yeah, their spiritual powers are said to be second to none! The whole of Kurain Village is dedicated to serving their clan. They've been less well known in the city, but some cases over the past few years have been casting more of a light on them.
no subject
no subject
Well first of all, one defense lawyer has had a spirit medium for his assistant. That medium and her cousin have occasionally been channeling the spirit of that medium's dead sister, who used to be a really great lawyer before she was unfortunately murdered. So she's been helping that lawyer to solve cases from beyond the grave!
And spirit channeling was also a key role in two cases that were based around it. One where that medium was framed for killing someone while channeling a spirit, and another that happened up at a temple for spirit mediums where it turned out that a vengeful spirit had been channeled. It was a pretty complicated case!
no subject
You sure know a lot about this family and their cases. Do you happen to know them, or just study the practice?
no subject
no subject
You must have even more exciting case stories - what's your favourite one? Do all of them involve the defense lawyer and the spirit medium?
no subject
Those two? I guess they have been involved in a lot of my cases over the past few years. But not all of 'em, pal! [This ain't about them.] My favorite case? Oh, easy! That'd be that one poisoning case where I saved Maggey!
no subject
Tell me about the poisoning case! Was Maggey a friend of yours?
no subject
A friend? Y-yeah! We're friends! Good friends, I- I'd say! [He sounds a little bashful.] ...So, uh, right! Poison. The poison! A guy got poisoned at this wannabe French restaurant, and Maggey was the prime subject! She was working as a waitress there, and they thought she was trying to steal a winning lottery ticket from the victim. But they don't know her! She'd never do such a thing!!
no subject
How did you prove her innocence? Did she object to... what does a "lottery" ticket win you anyway?
no subject
It's a bit of a long story, pal. [He rubs at the side of his head.] But explaining the lottery ticket's a good place to start. Basically, you can win loads of money if the number they pick matches the numbers you picked for your ticket! It's the ultimate gamble, pal, with the ultimate pay-off! So you could see why someone would want to snatch that ticket up for themselves when it's so fertile with money!
no subject
[Then again, she knows that people are often desperate for riches no matter the price. Maybe the gamble is less in the initial cost and more in the total cost, assuming you can get more than one at a time.]
How do they know which ticket will have the winning number?
no subject
[He still tries to win it every now and then! It's a shame he couldn't get that evidence for himself.]
Well, the winning number gets announced over special shows. A lot of them are on tv, but in this case, it was over the radio. [A beat.] That's a type of communication that's only sound.
no subject
Surprisingly, she doesn't seem that confused at the mention of radios or TVs. Possibly because Genie has kind of shown her them beforehand, even if not by name, and she's more invested in the story anyway.]
So the one with the winning ticket has time to claim the prize, but someone could also steal it if they know who bought it?
no subject
Yeah, in theory. The ticket doesn't come with a record of who bought it, so anyone who got their hands on the winning ticket could turn it in and get all the cash, with no questions asked. That's how they tried to pin it on Maggey. They made it look like she carried out the crime to get the winnings all for herself! But the truth was a lot different. In fact, the real culprit wasn't really after the ticket.
no subject
So, a man was poisoned, who happened to have a winning lottery ticket, so the real culprit put the ticket on your friend to frame her?
Well, if it wasn't for the ticket, then why did they kill him?
no subject
See, the culprit was Furio Tigre, the boss of this shady money-lending business. The funny thing is, he had a big debt to pay himself to a real bad crime boss! So he was trying to call in a debt to get the money, from this computer programmer who had a gambling problem. He got the programmer to make a special computer virus that he could use to make enough to pay his debt! But just as they were about to finalize the deal... that programmer found he won the lottery. So he'd be getting enough to pay his debt to Tigre... but not enough for Tigre to pay his own debt.
no subject
Now I see why it's a long story.
no subject
It really was a long one, pal! After Tigre carried out the murder, he then faked a recreation of it with a witness to make it look like Maggey did it! All the while, he had stolen the virus and was going to use it to get the money he needed... But he couldn't elude justice forever, pal!
no subject
How did Tigre fake the recreation? Did he have help? Is that how you figured it out?
no subject
Oh he had help alright! He posed as the victim, and he had a friend posing as Maggey. On top of that, he blackmailed the owner of the joint into playing along with it all. So when one regular came in, this old man, they played out their version of events in front of him to make him a witness!
They were pretty good at what they did. I didn't catch onto it, at first! But it didn't help that Tigre posed as Maggey's defense attorney too and bungled the whole thing. She actually got declared guilty, and I had to bust my hump to get her a retrial!
We can probably wrap here, unless there's something you want to add!
That's fine by me!