TDM 013: BARING IT ALL

[erkumods]

TDM 013: BARING IT ALL

00. Arrival 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. If you don’t manage to get away from them quickly enough, they may even usher you toward the Laid Bare Spa, where new arrivals will be offered free massages, a sauna, hairstyling, and their clothing may come up permanently missing. But you will be given a complimentary towel to leave with if needed! Feel free to explore the Island, though there isn’t much to see beyond what arrivals before you have helped to rebuild. 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 place to live in the now, whether a rundown apartment in the City, a tent on the beach, a bed in the barracks, or your own space at the House of Worship. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● I. THROW IN A TOWEL? Erku's new arrivals may be encouraged to seek out the Laid Bare Massage & Spa for some specialized attention and relaxation, but they and long-time inhabitants will also be offered a chance to earn credits. Anyone interested in earning robot wages will be tasked with being the resident towel person! You’ll stand inside of the room while the patrons are receiving their massages, hot scrubs, or relaxing in one of the saunas holding towels for them should any be requested. Or you may be asked to help with the regular cleaning of the Spa, wiping down all of the tasteful nude statues to free them of the grime and filth (or… other things) that builds up over time. You might even be asked to help lovingly clean the murals of nude patrons (that is to say, fellow Islanders) all over the Spa. But this is a job that requires a very specific uniform. Robots will provide you with your very own chiton or toga. The chitons happen to be very short, not covering nearly as much as they reveal, but the togas might be entirely too long. They brush or drag along the floor and what with being barely held together with the thinnest and most fanciful of ropes, who knows how often they might be untucked? Take care, please, or else the robots might pull you into being the next model for their latest mural portrait instead. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● II. GRIN AND BARE IT Erku’s resident mental health professional, Dr. D. Love of Healthy Body, Healthy Mind Therapy Center, has taken a keen interest in ensuring that the relationships of you Islanders are progressing in a productive, healthy, and open-minded fashion. And to ensure this, he’s tasked his robot staff to pay close attention to anyone who looks like they are having trouble with relationships with other people on the Island. And after months of so few (none) clients, these robots are very motivated to seek out people in need of their therapeutic assistance! Arguing with a friend? Telling someone to stay out of your life? Being a hermit who refuses to come out of your apartment? Accidentally bump into each other on the street? Make a joke at your friend’s expense? Playfully punch someone in the shoulder? Walk by someone you don’t know and not tell them hello? Well clearly all of you need help in repairing whatever may be damaging your relationships! Before you know it, you’ve been bundled off by the robots right to Dr. D. Love’s office and sat down to talk it all out. The fact that you may not even know the other person the robots think you need to work your troubles out with doesn’t matter. Dr. D. Love is here to make sure everyone goes home happy and satisfied. You may have to play along with this confusing farcical situation, even making up wrongs and slights you claim you have done to one another before finally coming together in reconciliation. The more you deny there is anything wrong, the more the good Doctor will insist you need even more help than they first thought. They might even have to send you into one of their Privacy Rooms and work out your frustrations with each other with their wide array of therapeutic sexual devices and supplies. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● III. BARE NAKED AMUSEMENT TOUR The trolley is making its rounds as usual with announcements echoing from the loudspeakers that it’s Bare It All Week at Six Flagellants Amusement Park and to kick it off there will be a grand concert at the Loudinus Outdoor Amphitheater that lasts all week long! Not sure what that means? Well, come to the concert and enjoy hours and hours of music played by robots who seem to have taken their songs right from the pop rock crazes of old. Whose old? Who knows. The music may not be completely to your taste, but something about it may make you feel energized and overly dressed. You might even feel the need to strip down until you’re not wearing anything at all! But don’t worry, the robots performing on stage will give you new clothes to wear by throwing skimpy, sexy underwear and lingerie right at you! How did they know your size? Don’t ask questions, just give into the urge to put it on while you rock out until it’s time for the trolley to take everyone right to the gates of the amusement park! Anyone dressed in less for this week will receive free entry, rides, and food and might even receive special prizes at various booths of sex toys, candies that act as an aphrodisiac (meant for sharing of course), stuffed animals, or even a free sex doll! Those are super hard to win from the ring toss, so you should really take advantage and enjoy all the perks of baring yourself for everyone’s viewing pleasure. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[theflyingone]

Altaïr only knew that the concert at the amphitheater was where they didn't want to be. Any direction that would take them away from the urge was good. Probably. He glanced behind him to check how this man was doing.

"It's getting quieter, but if you start to feel the effects from the music again, we'll move."

He was being paranoid, he knew it, but it couldn't hurt. No one would care about two people loitering at a fair. He stepped very quietly and waited until no one was looking, then hopped the barrier. He walked into Six Flagellants like he had been there all along. He felt his shoulders untense, but his eyes stayed sharp.

"I'm Altaïr." He didn't expect a name in return, as their meeting was haphazard to begin with, but he thought it might be easier than "you there in the hood."

[krempuff]

A little nervousness and uncertainty in these situations was probably for the best. One didn't want to lean too heavily into trusting these situations and getting carried away. Then again, Krem had decided that going along with things was, maybe, the way to do things until he could get his feet properly under him.

Maybe this was the slightly better tactic. Maybe there was no better tactic.

"Cremisius," he offered in return. Now that they'd passed in, he was looking around at everything curiously. It was a new place to adventure and explore, and that meant he was very keen on putting the lay of it to memory.

[theflyingone]

For now, at least, no one seemed to be bothering them. Altaïr made note of escape routes first before observing the park second. It was what he could only describe as a large fair, but with metal structures like snakes or wheels that people sat and rode on. Those seemed unwise. He'd have liked to climb one of the towers to get a good view of the place, but he chose to stick together with his companion instead. He squinted dubiously at the strange lights.

"So much effort, for sex and this Augur." Or whatever. He wasn't even sure if the robots truly worshipped or looked for signs. He'd only just heard a rumor of an augur--the Augur--who was supposed to have brought everyone here. As if that was possible.

[krempuff]

Krem didn't know much, if anything, about the Augur. He had heard a little bit, here and there, since he washed up on the beach but that didn't mean anything to him. It didn't seem to be an authority or religious figure, it was just there.

And people offered their sex to it?

"I don't know if the buildings and things are for the Augur," he said. "I think we'd all just go absolutely mad on an island with absolutely nothing at all. Well, not all of us. I don't know what most of these things are, I would have been fine."

[theflyingone]

Altaïr only knew of the augurs of Ancient Rome. They were officials tasked with reading the signs from flocks of birds. But everything was different here. Nothing in his studies of the histories could prepare him for high-tech bracelets or robots.

"I have seen fairs, but... not one like this. There were announcements that it was for 'Bare It All Week.' I did not know what that meant at the time. I am still not entirely sure. Festivals usually mark the seasons, or some day of religious importance... Is it not like that where you come from?"

[krempuff]

"No, nothing like this," Krem agreed. There were certainly plenty of festive holidays and lively markets all over Thedas, but putting side the level of technology that Krem was already unfamiliar with, there was nothing this loud or that drew in this sort of a crowd, even in the largest cities.

"But I've spent the last ten years traveling all over," he said. Not exactly ten years, but there about. Had it really been nearly a decade? It was hard to believe sometimes. "So maybe the festivals have just gone a bit more manic than I remember them being, too. Got to find a way to get people to celebrate somehow, I suppose."

Sorry I had to go on unexpected hiatus. :( Continue or drop, I'm good with either!

[theflyingone]

He noted Krem's strong build and the way he carried himself. He guessed he might be a routine fighter, but he didn't act like a common thug or highway robber. A caravan guard or soldier's occupation would explain the long time traveling, and less time for fun and festivals. Altaïr didn't voice his guesses yet. He didn't want his habit of sizing people up to seem like he was scrutinizing.

"Were you in the middle of your travels when you were taken here?"