TDM 014: A DAY AT THE FAIR

[erkumods]

TDM 014: A DAY AT THE FAIR

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. HAY FEVER A new mode of transportation has made an appearance! From one end of the fairgrounds to the other, and even sometimes off the beaten path and into the wilds, robot-horse-drawn hay wagons shake, rattle, and roll. And, of course, what are hay wagons great for? Anyone fancy a roll in the hay? Anyone who is taking a hay ride will see their A5 card flash - and they will be given the option to trade one square for the vehicles square. (New players engaging in this prompt can call it a freebie.) But beware! The wagons roll at all hours of the day and night. At night, the spooks come out to play! Rides will be "haunted" by frightful spooks played by machines and your local Islanders. The 'bots will hire anyone interested to don their favorite slasher costume or ghostly garb. After all, everyone knows that fear and adrenaline are related to attraction, right? Just another thoughtful service provided by your generous benefactors. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● II. Acute Beef Poisoning How about an eating contest? Multiple competitions are held throughout the fair: hot dogs, hot dogs, pies -- just use your imagination! Of course, there's always the chance that you've been recruited to be "eaten"... So sit back and enjoy the ride. For those of you with an exhibitionist streak, all contests are held in front of an audience. Be careful, ye who eat here, because the pies in particular have been known to have the following effects (with a two-hour duration): Meat - A simple aphro pie; a character finds themselves craving a very different kind of meat. Apple - Temporary amnesia befalls those who've tried the apple pie. The effects can be as great as forgetting your entire identity or as minor as forgetting what you've had for breakfast. Cherry - Look upon the very face of innocence! All guile falls away from this character, making it impossible for them to lie. Strawberry - The compulsion to follow orders may be strong sometimes, but the strawberry pie comes with the compulsion to give orders instead. Blueberry - Oh no! You're looking a bit... off-color? The blueberry pie turns a character's skin blue for the next two hours. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● III. BRODEO Last but not least, try the mechanical contraptions of various sizes - equipped with equipment of various sizes as well! The objective of this game is to last as long as you can. Thirteen Hand Sam is the smallest of the mechanical horses. It has no attachments, but instead vibrates until the rider orgasms. Mechanic Mike is the second mechanical horse. With a modest six-inch dildo, it bucks its rider around until orgasm. For those who like a real challenge, the mechanical bull -- the Bonine -- is a two-person contraption that straps each rider in with their own dildo. They sit face-to-face on the thrashing machine, within touching range, able to encourage each other to come (and to lose) more quickly. Ride like you've never ridden before, or comfort someone in the aftermath of a job well done. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[devilstongue]

Molly's only run-in with fish people were the merrows in the swamp, but obviously this was a much less monstrous being. He's all smiles, waving away the robot.

"These automatons are fucking weird but harmless, don't worry about those."

He's never seen them being anything but awkward helpers, no matter how pushy they might be about sexy things.

"Mollymauk Tealeaf, a pleasure to meet you even if this mess." There's a swish of his coat as he gives a small bow. "Welcome to Fucksville, a place where everyone's trapped by some messed-up god-thing in its own little pocket of existence. You'll need a drink for this shit."

[freshtilapia]

They seem much more calm once the automation is waved away. It was their first ever run in with one and they had absolutely no idea how to deal with it. So now, their attention was on the tattooed tiefling before them and the business of drying themselves with the towel.

"Mm... I'm Cinnis. Cinnis Sedonsath, though I suppose if that's a mouthful, I used to be called Fish as a nickname," they shrug. Even in their current attire and state, it was kind of easy to see that this merfolk had a certain... flourish? to them. They definitely weren't just some sailor thrown overboard.

"Do I trust you'd give me some information about this place then, Mister Tealeaf? Or Mollymauk. Whichever you prefer?"

[devilstongue]

"Molly, if you please. If we're calling you Fish, it's only fair."

They seem like an interesting person, if wet and straight from being thrown overboard. The tieflings tail swishes a little behind him as he nods to the tents higher up on the beach.

"There's a place up there to get off your feet and relax. It's a lot you need to know, but the very gist of it is that we're trapped here for now, and the weird god wants everyone to fuck."

[freshtilapia]

Fish chuckles right at that. "A god that wants everyone to fuck, huh..." They mutter softly to themselves.

"Fine, Molly it is," they look up at where he was nodding to. "Those tents? Isn't that where that... whatever that was... was trying to usher me to?"

[devilstongue]

"It sounds like the worst pick-up-line, doesn't it?" Molly chuckles and shakes his head. "I'd be at least a little more suave if that was the case."

Sure, mister 11 CHA.

"...and yes. It's a good place to dry off and get your bearings. Unless you prefer to be wet?"

[freshtilapia]

"So asks the tiefling who jokes about pick-up lines," Fish quirks an eyebrow up at him. They're rightfully amused by now.

"I'm not too bothered about being wet... in more than one way," they wink at him. "But I could do with not feeling like I've been swept by the ocean for days... and I could use something to eat and drink."

Now that the sense of being lost had passed, the merfolk was acutely aware of how empty their insides were.

[devilstongue]

He can't help the slight snort at that, amused. They were funny and showy, which he fully appreciates. A fellow circus folk, maybe?

"There's a spa around here as well if you want to really get the ocean out of you. You should probably know all the details of this messy dimension first, though. Then I can find you some food."

[freshtilapia]

Maybe yes, maybe no. But that's for the tiefling to find out later on.

"Well... is that an offer? Will you guide me through whatever this whole place is?" they make a grand gesture towards the whole environment around them. "I'd appreciate it greatly, Molly."

[devilstongue]

"I know how it is to fall into a new place like this without any guidance. I was lucky to find a friend from home, and if you do as well, then you're still better prepared than I was." He confidently leads them towards the beach tents. They're sparse, but at least it's a non-sandy place to sit down and talk.

Molly plops himself down and leans back a bit, tail swaying.

"So this is an unnamed island with an unnamed city that used to be really shitty and broken, but it has been fixed up pretty well," he starts, gesturing to the buildings far from the beach. "On that bracelet thing you have, you can communicate with people like a free Sending spell, and even show your face at the same time if you want. It also has your sex card on it... because I really wasn't just trying to chat you up."

[freshtilapia]

"A sex card?" Fish looks at Molly with a raised eyebrow. "What in the oceans is that?"

And the fact that Molly seems to have some possible ulterior motive to match that... well, color this merfolk a bit on their guard.

[devilstongue]

Molly shakes his head a bit and then pulls his own bracelet, clicking the A5 card and showing it to Fish.

"Every one of these things give you a square that you can turn in for things like a good place to stay or sometimes powers back if you've lost yours." He makes a face as he hears himself. "It sounds crazy now that I say it out loud, but I've been here for... some time."

He gestures to the card again.

"You don't have to, though - let me make that perfectly clear if you're worried. I have some friends that are not very interested in sex, and they're doing fine. You can use your squares on other people."

[freshtilapia]

“Really now…?” Fish looks over the card and the names on them, the suggestion of very specific acts. Then they look over the tiefling.

“That’s quite the colorful card you’ve got. I take it then that you’ve made yourself plenty comfortable here, haven’t you?”

[devilstongue]

"I was at the start, but then there were feelings and now I'm in a mess. Don't worry about that, though." That was his own problem.

The tiefling taps his lower lip slightly and then starts counting on his slim but calloused fingers. "...don't eat anything that isn't cooked by actual people also trapped here, it has a tendency to fuck with your body or mind. Unless you're in the mood for that, of course. Sometimes weird shit happens, like sudden blizzards, or all the flowers bloom at once."

Those were the nicer ones, but he doesn't have to scare the shit out of Fish. "Sun's out about once a week. Savor it, these gray skies are terrible on the complexion."

[freshtilapia]

“I see… seems this is a far more complex place than I thought. Did I… does this happen to be a completely different plane of existence? Because nothing that you’ve said makes much sense in the kind of world I’m used to,” they look at him with some concern.

[devilstongue]

"Oh, yes. It's definitely not our homeworld either, and it even seems to differ in planes for a lot of people. Some worlds are really different from the ones that you and I seem to come from." Fish hasn't called him a demon or even asked about it, and their clothes were something Molly could easily have seen in the circus.

"...a dimensional pocket's the theory we're going with, as far as I know. Our wizards are on it, trying to figure out things. It's very much not my wheelhouse."

[freshtilapia]

Fish is far too familiar with tieflings to ask things about Molly anyway, from their most recent adventures. They wave a hand in the air in a grand flippant gesture.

“My sea creature brain probably can’t comprehend either. But…” They sigh, looking around. “I’m not sure about where or how to start now. All I know is that I’m cold and I’d love to be out of these wet clothes.”

[devilstongue]

"Well, I did offer you food, and I think we're similar enough so you can have some of my clothes while yours dry."

He gestures in the direction of the Neinhaus. "Do you want to come with me to our place of would you rather I get you some?"

[freshtilapia]

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to just follow you. It’s not like anything will happen if I leave this spot,” they shrug and move over to be by Molly’s side.

“Lead the way and all I’ll do is follow.”

[devilstongue]

He nods at that and offers a hand to help Fish up before they head towards the more civilized areas off of the beach. They head to a somewhat broken-up cobblestone street with half-collapsed white brownstone homes. Three of them still stand, though, right in the middle of the rest of the rubble.

"That's our place, the one with the placard on the side of the door. The other two houses are for a nice group of people people from our world that we didn't meet until we got here, and our wizards have their own house for their... wizarding."

He leads Fish towards the back gate so that they can step into the garden and then into the kitchen from there.

"I am not exactly a cook, but our big cleric friend might have made something..."

[freshtilapia]

"This... I assume having this place to live is because of the rewards from that sex card, huh?" Fish raises an eyebrow at the tiefling. "Must be quite a spicy household."

They chuckle and follow Molly in, through the garden and into the kitchen.

"As long as it doesn't have land meat, I'm so famished I could eat anything."

[devilstongue]

[ He chuckles and shakes his head a bit. Sure looked like they had a lot of fun here! ]

They're pretty lenient on housing... I think one of these buildings might only have taken a square or two.

[ Molly starts rummaging around the kitchen, opening the cold-cupboard to find a mushroom stew. He pulls it out (he's the worst roommate) and heats up the stove. (They finally figured out how to use it.) ]

There's a lot of people here, though. This house has about six people in it... [ He counts on his fingers again. ] Me, Veth, Caleb, Fjord, Jester, Caduceus... yeah, six.

and here I realize I should retcon a part of Fish's meeting with Fjord...

[freshtilapia]

That's plenty... is there a reason why so many of you live together?

[ Fish looks at him curiously as they wait patiently for the food. ]

whoops accidental format change

[devilstongue]

"We're all from the same team of assholes back home, so it made sense to stick together," Molly says, finding a spoon to stir the stew with. "There's also two other tieflings on the island that are not from the same world as us here. Even and Oran, I hope you meet them, they're interesting."

Re: whoops accidental format change

[freshtilapia]

"I see. Well, I suppose it's nice to know there are people I wouldn't find strange in this world," Fish shrugs, they might be a bit jaded about meeting new folk.

"You're a lucky one then that you've found your team of assholes."

[devilstongue]

"I really am..." Molly says thoughtfully, a small smile on his lips. He's not sure if he could have handled this thing on his own.

He keeps stirring the mushroom stew for a while and then gets some bowls, filling them up and handing one to Fish. They're Caduceus-made but Tealeaf-heated so they might be a little lukewarm.

"Do you run with a pack of assholes back home as well?"