TDM 004: WASHED ASHORE

[erkumods]

TDM 004: WASHED ASHORE

Arrival This time, you come out of the water. While the Augur reboots, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy draws people in. It's like being suspended between realities and walking through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you and carrying you to shore. Waterlogged and covered in sand, new arrivals will be greeted by robots who welcome them with towels and bracelet devices. The A5 card is already loaded up. Inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● I. Feel the friendship! Recent arrivals and visitors to the beach may notice a sudden influx of hundreds of bright red crustaceans crawling (and coupling) across the sand. It's crab mating season, as it turns out, it's a regular invasion! To keep the beach a pleasant place to gather for the island's inhabitants, the robots are offering credits to especially enterprising crab-catchers. Grab a bucket and get to work! Be sure to watch out for their pinch, mind you. Their little claws are tiny, but that doesn’t mean they don’t hurt. Surprisingly, there is another effect that even the robots don't anticipate: islanders who are pinched by the crabs find themselves feeling instantly buddy-buddy with the next person they spot. Did you just become best friends?! Get pinched one too many times, however, and those feelings may sour into a crabby mood, indeed. If you are feeling particularly vengeful (or just hungry), the little crabs do make for delicious gumbo. Once cooked, they have no side effects whatsoever. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● II. Phallus Phestival Although the Augur is offline and supplies are scarce, the robots of Erku are still eager to make their run-down little island a welcoming place for the new arrivals. To that end, they have arranged a three day festival to boost morale and promote the generation of plenty of Eros energy to assist in the restoration of the damaged and decayed parts of the city. The robots claim that this celebration was once a cornerstone of the long-lost civilization of the island. By the dawn of the first day, every island resident will find at their doorstep (or tent flap, mobile suit, etc) the traditional costume of the ancient islanders to wear to the festival. It appears to be... a giant sheet? There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the sometimes garish colors and patterns of the fabric, but at least the robots have uploaded instructions on how to wear it to your bracelet device. Attendees will find food (mostly crab-flavored), confections, and household necessities in rather suggestive shapes, as well as goods you might find handy to complete your A5 squares: sex toys, pervertibles, sexy maid outfits, and the like. While islanders are welcome to set up shop on the festival grounds and sell (or charge) whatever they like, all items from the robots are offered up for free to those who wear their traditional island garb! ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● III. Fireside Adventures Each night of the festival is wrapped up in style with an enormous bonfire on the beach, where drinks, fruity cocktails, and lively music appropriate for dancing is all provided at no cost by the robots. Even if you’re not usually much of a dancer, the longer you stand by the fire and allow it to warm your limbs, the more you feel like moving! Not only that, but everyone is looking quite beautiful by the firelight, are they not? If you’ve grown tired - or if dancing just isn’t your thing - you might prefer to sit back and swap stories on one of the many driftwood log benches the robots have prepared for seating. Or, maybe you’d prefer to rough it for the night in one of the beachside canvas tents. Better claim one quick, though, or be prepared to share… there’s only one sleeping bag! ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[nightmaric]

[ He recoils slightly, seemingly annoyed--it makes her rock on her heels, surprised, and her lips press together in a ploy at looking upset; in reality it almost makes her angry, how disgruntled he seems, as though the wiles she usually depends on in the human world don't seem to be working here, or at least not working on this stranger, whoever he is.

Yes, she wants to say. I do it all the time and people love it.

Still, she's got that lollipop in her mouth, and she pulls it from her cheek, running her tongue faintly along the tip in slight thought, her eyes betraying her as they glance down at the table in front of him, rather than at his face properly.]

I don't know anything, okay? I just got here. I only know what the robots say.

[ Which seems about as good as it'll get, honestly. Her eyes blink up to look at him.]

Do you know something I don't?

[lockedon]

[ If she's trying to play the helpless damsel-in-distress card....it works, but only a little. How many times have Zeta and Beatrix told him to chill out? Enough that it's finally starting to stick, it seems.

Instead of brushing her off once her value's been determined (currently a very low value), he simply frowns. ]

Only what they've told me.

[ Which is both plenty and not nearly enough. Fuck for food and shelter? Fine, but that doesn't explain the myriad other mysteries surrounding this place. Who created the AUGUR? What happened to this place? Somehow he doubts merely having sex will afford him any of the answers.

Ah, but. He moves a foot to the left, creating more of an opening for the wares on the table. ]

Feel free to continue your shopping.

[ It's not an answer, but he can at least be gracious enough to let her pick out toys. ]