ercookies | TDM 005: HAPPY SPOOKTEMBER

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TDM 005: HAPPY SPOOKTEMBER

Arrival

This time, you come out of the water, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy drawing people in. It's like being suspended between realities and abruptly pushed from behind through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you to the surface 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. Feel free to explore the Island, though there isn’t much to see. Most of the buildings are abandoned and in dire need of repair, and beyond the city lingers a thick fog that obscures much of the wilderness from view. Wander too far into this fog, and you will find yourself mysteriously looping back to where you began, your memories of what you were doing and how you got there erased.

With that in mind, it may be wise to stake your claim on a rundown apartment, a tent on the beach, or a bed in the "comfortable" new barracks. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home.

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I. Harvest Hunt

As the daylight grows shorter and the muggy heat of the island’s summer gradually shifts to temperate days and chilly nights, Erku’s accessible wilderness explodes with a colorful collection of tempting fruits, fragrant-smelling herbs, and nuts and seeds plumped and ready for harvest. With warnings to beware of monsters, the robots of Erku encourage Islanders to take advantage of the land’s bounty by distributing basic camping supplies to those who are interested in exploring, hunting, and harvesting. They strongly encourage making the journey with a friend! Any surplus foods that Islanders bring home with them can be exchanged for credits with cafeteria robots! Just be careful out there - some of these fruits have strange effects once consumed.

For extra protection out there in the wilds, the robots have fashioned crowns of flowers or foliage to wear on their adventures. The sweet and herbal smells from the crowns will discourage most Erku-native monsters from approaching, they assure - this is ancient knowledge from the planet’s long-gone civilization, so it can’t be wrong!

What the robots don’t know is that the crowns have a deeper, more ritualistic purpose: after a few hours, the scent of flowers or herbs begins to awaken primal instincts within the wearer. Those who are wearing the foliage crowns feel overwhelmed by an urge to hunt, while those who wear the flower crowns delight in every opportunity to tease, outrun, and outwit the hunters. What happens when the chase ends? Well, that depends on the personalities and the chemistry between the hunters and their prey.

While the robots are very insistent on placing crowns atop the heads of any Islander they see, they aren’t stuck on in any way and they are easy to remove, which can prevent or break the hunting trance.

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II. seeds and sap

Of particularly high credit value, the robots explain, is an elusive flower known as the skull sunflower. It appears exactly as one might imagine: at the center of an otherwise innocuous, towering sunflower is the gruesome visage of an open-mouthed skull. Don’t worry, the flowers are harmless! Even if it’s strange how the empty-socketed eyes seem to follow your every move. And why is it that the teeth - which, on closer inspection, are actually the seeds of the flower - only seem to chatter when your back is turned?

Any Islander who can withstand their heebie-jeebies long enough to collect the petals and seeds from the flowers will fetch a handsome reward in credits upon exchange with the robots. Beware the sticky, blood-red sap that seeps from the eyes of each skull, however. Those who absorb too much through their skin will begin to hallucinate, visions of frightening or emotional events from their past dancing in the shadows. One might even mistakenly imagine that another Islander is someone they recognize from their past, someone who meant something to them - no matter whether that person is alive or dead in the present.

The hallucinogenic effects of the sap can last for hours, or they can be shortened by a dip in the public baths.

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III. Tarot

Night comes, and in the darkness, a robot sets up a table by the beach. A solitary candle sits in the center, illuminating a deck of cards. F̶i̴n̵d̸ ̸y̶o̸u̸r̵ ̵f̵o̸r̷t̵u̶n̶e̷?̴

The robot reveals tarot cards and will do a variety of spreads to tell your fortune. Each fortune can be distilled into one central theme, which characters will find pervades their life for the next 24 hours. There is magic afoot: it can be sensed, and perhaps even dispelled, if luck is on your side.

Though most robots on the island show a capacity for greater-than-average artificial intelligence, this pseudo-psychic 'bot -- M.S. Cl30 -- is less advanced. It only has six interpretations prepared:

Always watch your back. - Characters will be compelled to walk, or even speak, backwards for the duration of the day. Those who mishear it as "wash your back" may spend longer in the shower than usual.
Fake it til you make it. - Characters will feel compelled to act performatively. They will more readily fall into acts for serious or flirtatious roleplay, or try on costumes that reflect a particular persona they're interested in exploring. Faked orgasms will seem quite realistic.
You will receive an affectionate letter from a friend. - Just as it is said, someone will be compelled to engage in correspondence - and whether it turns dirty or not, well, that's up to you! Characters may also quite literally receive an article of clothing with a red letter sewn on the top. What could it stand for?
Hold on tight. - Characters who are given this life advice will start to feel rather clingy. They'll attach themselves to someone's side and refuse to leave, or they may find a "security blanket" item and won't let it go.
You are a generous, giving person. - Characters will feel compelled to do something kind for someone else. Maybe they'll invite someone to the movies, come over and cook, or do that thing their partner is always asking for.
Don't think. Feel. - Even if they weren't before, characters temporarily experience impulsive and hot-headed urges. They will also become very tactile.

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N A V I G A T I O N

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[ He almost falls in, too, because he was not prepared for how much stronger the half-orc had gotten!

An hour later he's glaring after the runaway bird and sliding his weapons back in the belt before brushing off his dirty and messy sleeves. ]

I honestly haven't seen much. Maybe a few crawling things, and a bunch of cats. Lots of vegetation, though. You don't happen to suddenly know what's edible thanks to your new sugar mama?

[ Molly picks at a leaf, pulling it off the stem. ]

Edited 2020-10-13 22:16 (UTC)

I could ask her if Commune was working, but unlike someone I'm fresh out of fancy spells.

[ Strolling over to the vine-wrapped tree whose leaf Molly has plucked, he looks up into the boughs to see if there is any fruit. ]

If we look around a little more we mi —

[ The vines ensnare Fjord like whips, dragging him back to the bole of the tree with a thud that knocks the breath from his lungs. His eyes widen as the weirdly tentacle-like appendages tighten around his limbs, holding him prone ...

And then nothing else happens. One of the vines slithers around his thigh and his shout turns into a squeak. ]

... Molly! Help.

[ Molly stumbles back as Fjord is grabbed by the vines and pulled past him to the tree. The 'thud' makes him cringe, and the tiefling immediately draws his scimitars to hack his friend free. ]

What the fuck is going on? Let go of him!

[ He slices through a vine, but another one quickly comes to take its place. Baring his fangs, Molly continues to try to cut Fjord free while fighting the plant for control. ]

Pull on it!

I can't pull, it's holding me everywhere! Cut it off!

[ He isn't technically hurt, he supposes, just. Really, really uncomfortable, legs spread by thicker vibes to replace any Molly hacks off and arms held above his head. Every furious attack makes it hold on tighter until he's yelping. ]

Okay, okay! Stop! Stop! New plan, think ... think of something.

[ He'll hang out where he is. ]

Chopping it up only makes it angrier.

[ He frowns at that, sheathing his blades again. Instead, Molly walks around the tree to see if he can see any kind of base of the vines, but comes up empty. ]

It certainly likes you.

[ It wasn't reaching to add him to the mix, after all. ]

Maybe it traps people and wait for them to die, and then eat the nutrients.

[ He knocks a bit on the tree bark. ]

Talk to it?

You're not the best at keeping people calm in an emergency situation.

[ Eat him? Fantastic. Fjord looks up into the tree. ]

I'm ... historically not great at holding conversations with the wilderness, but, hello. Hi. My idiot friend is sorry he plucked your leaf, he just thought you were so beautiful, that's all. Wanted to keep a piece ...

[ ~~Persuasion 15~~ The vines around his wrists loosen a little, seemingly reacting to his sweet-talk. Hesitant. ]

... Oh, thank you. Um.

[ Eyeballing Molly for help. ]

[ Oh. Well. ]

Yes, I'm terribly sorry! Please don't take it out on my friend here, he's innocent! [ Molly even does a little dramatic bow. ] In fact, he likes green things like you! He's green too, you should be wonderful buddies and not at all strangle him with your vines.

[ Pets... the tree...?? ]

[ The petting and cooing seems to work, the former loosening one of the vines around Fjord's arm so he has one hand free to start petting the ones on his thighs, of which there are a few. ]

There's a good plant, let me go ... Nngh!

[ He freezes as the vine around his thigh tightens. ]

Molly ... I think it prefers your, ah, special touch. If you wouldn't mind.

[ Molly's first reaction is 'haha sex plant'. The next? 'Oh no, sex plant!' He quickly returns his petting and cooing to the vines, even stroking some thicker ones in a very... specific way. ]

Come on, darlings, let him go? He's not in to these things, terrible prude, I know.

[ He keeps coaxing, relieved when some of them starts loosening up once more. ]

[ He is definitely averting his eyes from Molly's, uh, method with the vines. Might never unsee it otherwise and honestly he's not sure he's brave enough to unpack that train of thought about one of his friends. ]

Yes, I'm such a prude. [ His voice is flat, as is the look he gives the woods. ] Please, O'great tree, do not take away my purity.

[ He can't quite help the snort at that, grinning as he's teasing the vines. Molly's a bit relieved when they slowly start to loosen and that this ridiculousness works.

Of course that's when he hams it up in the worst sex voice ever. ]

Oh, yes.... please baby, let go of him, I'll touch you so good...

[ Molly's trying so, so hard to not laugh. ]

[ Just gonna! rub his hands over his face!! like this isn't something he's part of at all! He flicks at one of Molly's ears, starting to step away from the vines that slowly relax and grow obedient under Molly's touch. Some get too stiff to stay on Fjord and he shakes them off without touching them. ]

You're the absolute worst, you know that.

[ Molly's no Merle Highchurch, but he certainly got the job done and those plants look quite satisfied. Somehow.

Reaching out, he grabs Fjord's hand to pull him away from the tree and several steps away before he jabs a finger against the leather armor. ]

I just got you out of there, sailor boy, don't make me push you back in.

[ Smirking, he gives Fjord a little wink before throwing an arm over his back. He'd do the shoulder, but you know. Even runty half-orcs are a little too tall. ]

Let's get the fuck away from this place before more foliage decide to feel us up.

[ He huffs as they walk, mumbling a Thank you as they make their measured but swift escape. ]

It's not trying to eat you up, Mister Spells Galore.

[ With a sigh he rolls his eyes, then skids to a stop on the underbrush, staring across at more vines, only these are hung thick with purple grapes. Lots of grapes. ]

Molly, look. Do you think it's worth ... ?

You were fine.

[ He says with a grin and a clap on Fjord's back. He's about to continue down their tiny chocobo-made trail when the hexadin stops, and Molly immediately braces for more trouble.

Looks like they found grapes, though. Maybe that means that somewhere, there's wine. He could only hope.

As for their safety, though...? ]

I'm starving, so I guess I'll give it a go this time.

[ Picking a cluster of grapes, he pops a few in his mouth. ]

...mmm. Not bad.

[ Once Molly hasn't been inappropriately touched by the vegetation Fjord takes that as a good sign and snaps off a bunch of grapes that he starts shovelling into his mouth by the threes and fours, chomping away greedily. Gods, he's fucking starving. They need to get some meat, rabbits or anything else at this rate.

With his initial breakfast hunger sated, he finds himself looking idly at Molly. His coat and boots and hair and swords. No one could say the tiefling is underprepared for whatever the island has to throw at them next, in as good a state as anyone. Meanwhile, Fjord needs a blade ...

Or a spear. One of the nearby sticks looks long enough, sharp once he uses his boot to scuff off the loose bark. ]

Once we find something better to eat, do you want to explore the rest of the city?

[ Molly breaks off a bunch as well, sticking one in his sleeve pocket before munching on the other. He's so busy eating that he doesn't quite see what Fjord's doing, but once he has enough grape in his mouth he turns to see the spear.

Rolling his eyes, he pulls out the Summer's Dance and holds it out instead. ]

Here. That's going to break. I still have my other scimitar and it will do well with a rite on it. I'd give it to you, but it's carnival glass and needs a veteran hand.

Molly, I ...

[ He remembers taking Summer's Dance from beside a body. Corrupting it. Melting it.

Fjord hesitates before gratefully accepting it this time, although his cheer over finding food softens into something unspoken as he does. ]

I'll make sure nothing happens to it.

I want it back as soon as we find you something else!

[ He quickly says, just to ease the building tension he could sense there. Not sure what it was about, but hey. Maybe Fjord just didn't like borrowing. ]

Let's check out the city. Yasha likes rat and it isn't terrible.

[ With an agreeable nod, he immediately pulls a face at the notion of eating vermin. ]

Rat, really? The day just can't get any better.

[ His swords always vanished and reappeared when he needed them so he awkwardly tucks Summer's Dance into the side of his belt, following wherever Molly leads. ]

[ Molly makes a bit of a face as well. ]

It's rat or cat, and I'm fairly sure I can never look Caleb in the eye again if it's the latter.

[ Caleb might never know, but he'd probably feel it somehow, his cat love was so intense.

Thankfully it's not too far to the city and while the first thing Mollymauk sees is a cat, there's also... geese. A fair amount of them, even. ]

Ooh. I see how people manage.

He would probably be disgusted, you're not wrong.

[ The geese are awfully agitated, honking and flapping up a fuss at anyone who gets close enough. Fjord draws the scimitar and shares a significant look with Molly. ]

You go left, I go right?

[ They've taken down monsters; surely they can handle geese. ]

You got it. I've wanted bird all day, so we're lucky!

[ Even if goose drumsticks are definitely tinier than chocobo, they're delicious. Molly sneaks around the left side, scimitar drawn and ready. It would be easier with a ranged weapon, but what the hell. It's food.

One minute later, and he's being chased by a fucking screeching hell machine. ]

Get it off my tail!!

[ ... It's hilarious. Makes up for the whole Sex Tree thing. ]

Alright, alright ...

[ Fjord waits for Molly to come rushing his way and crouches in wait behind a building, listening for the honking demon (not the tiefling for once). He used Summer's Dance for long enough to know how to wield it and cuts down the bird with a merciful swing, ending the harsh noise once and for all.

He gives the not-Falchion a bit of a fancy twirl from side to side, showing off for himself more than anything. ]

How about a second? We can each have a goose with our grapes tonight.

Gods damned... little monster!

[ Molly's holding his tail, glaring at the headless goose. It seems the bird had never seen an appendage like the before and immediately thought 'food'. ]

We're eating his entire family, as far as I'm concerned. How does it have teeth??

[ He has a lot more respect for farmers now, letting those devil birds walk around on their properties like that. ]

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