buttrinthum | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Y-You have a lovely name, too. [She replied, trying to keep the tears at bay but unable to so they just fell, silently.]

You can't miss my sister Lizzie. She's... she's so terribly pretty. A real proper lady that gentleman all come to court. She has bright eyes and a bright mind. She's the only one to always listen to all my stories and doesn't think they're nonsense. She thinks I should write a book full of my stories.

[She smiles warmly.]

It sounds like your sister understands you very well. And telling stories is wonderful - what about yours makes others think they're nonsense?

Well, I don't particularly think they're nonsense, but other people certainly do. Like a baby turning into a pig... or potentially always having been a pig and just being a very ugly baby.

Or a cat that can grin able to disappear and reappear as it pleases wherever it pleases sometimes just as its grin or just as a head. Or playing cards that paint white roses so they have to paint them red because the queen only likes red roses.

[There's a pause as Jasmine processes these visuals into her head. The longer she does, the more a grin develops and she lets out a giggle.]

Maybe at face value, one thinks they're nonsense because they don't try to understand. It's too easy for them to think only in a certain, restricted mindset - but when you think outside of it, there's a new point of view. ~~[It may even be fantastic.]~~

Besides, I've seen enough magic to know that very few things are really impossible.

YOU'VE SEEN MAGIC! [Alice became immediately curious and then cleared her throat, biting her lip and backing down.] Um... my-my apologies. That was quite loud of me.

I... I've always wanted to see magic, it is... it is real magic, isn't it? Like how this place is real magic?

[Another giggle just for the enthusiasm.] That's all right, it's an exciting thing! Agrabah is full of real magic, sometimes in places you'd least expect. Too often it's put in the wrong hands and that's when it becomes dangerous and frightening... but when ambivalent, it is downright beautiful.

[There's a dreamy look in her eyes as she thinks of everything Genie and Carpet have done for her life alone.]

And yes, this place has real magic, too. The Overseer certainly has it, but the world itself seems rife in it, like Agrabah. Even some of us are granted it, if you brave drinking the potion.

Oh, I drank it immediately, the potion. I thought it was the Drink Me, it certainly tasted like the Drink Me. But it didn't make me shrink. I don't know what it did!

But... But I have magic now? Really? Me? [Her hand rested on her chest. Little ol' her?!] I have magic?! I really truly have magic! I've met others who can do all sorts of magical things, but I've always been such an ordinary thing!

Well, it does say, "Drink Me", but that doesn't mean you have to drink it. [Oh Jasmine, you have no idea who you're talking to.]

But they seem to be different for all of us. I've heard the colours determine what kind of powers, but even then you don't really know until you've tried. Mine, for instance, is gold, which means it should turn me into an animal... but I haven't tried yet, so I haven't a clue what kind of animal.

So if you drank it, then yes, you do have magic. Though you seem rather extraordinary to me just the same, Alice.

Well, how else would I know what it does? And it wasn't labeled poison, so I was sure it wouldn't disagree with me sooner or later. [Oh, Jasmine... no, you don't want to know how reckless Alice is with her own body.]

Do you know what the blue one can do, then, Miss Jasmine?

I'm not extraordinary at all. [She shook her head.] And I suppose drinking the Drink Me [It literally said Drink Me, what else is she going to call it?] doesn't suddenly make me so even if it means I have magic. You have to do extraordinary things to be extraordinary... otherwise... well, then you're just extra-ordinary. And it's perfectly alright to be that as well, most people are extra-ordinary, and that's why it's called ordinary.

Extraordinary things are like a white rabbit with a waistcoat and a pocket watch going on about how late he is. That's why I followed him... Not HERE mind you, but he is what I mean by properly extraordinary.

[Jasmine... feels an urge to explain the importance of testing liquids before drinking them, but is promptly distracted by the question.]

If you drank the blue one, you should have healing powers. [...] So even if something did disagree with you, you can already take care of yourself! [There, saved it.]

And while it's true that most are simply ordinary, some don't have to appear extraordinary for it to be true. Sometimes extraordinary things are simply choices that lead to the extraordinary... like travelling to an island you didn't know was cursed... or stealing a mirror that turns you into a rat... or saving a girl from punishment who turns out to be the princess.

So if you indeed followed a white rabbit to whatever he was late for, I'd say that makes you pretty extraordinary. [But perhaps it's easy to feel that way when you're virtually surrounded by magic every day of your life.]

TDM #1

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And we can start to wrap here if you like ^^