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TDM 015: IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PARADISE
TDM 015: IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PARADISE |
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. Beach Episode![]() Welcome to your beautiful and sunny island paradise, Erku! ...wait, it's sunny? That's right! For about two weeks, the Island will enjoy unusually warm and clear weather, just perfect for enjoying the cool waters of the beach. Don't swim out too far, however, lest you stray into hazardous choppy waters or get lost in the fog that still lingers beyond the peaceful cove. Just stay close, and you're golden! Once again, friendly robots have erected beachside food stalls for grilling fish and crabs, and encourage any enterprising Islanders to help hawk foods for credits. If gutting and cleaning fish isn't your forte, however, never fear. The robots are recruiting for a very important task! You see, they have very thoughtfully set up swimming and snorkeling lessons for any Islanders who are doubting their skills at staying afloat, or who just want to have some fun in the waves. There is only one complication: the robots are too heavy to swim. Enter, you! Earn credits by instructing your fellow Islanders in the marvels of the ocean. Not just swimming and snorkeling, but also fishing, clam digging, and sand castle art - among other things - are valuable skills you can sell. II. Sand Sport![]() For the more competitive sort, the robots of Erku are happy to share a bit of culture from the planet's ancient past: wet sand wrestling! Volunteers (or any innocent Islander roped off the beach by an enthusiastic 'bot) don their skimpiest swimwear and duke it out for dominance in the wet sand by trying to throw their opponent outside of a ring. Knock-outs count as an automatic lose, so be careful! Oh, and no worries if you aren't particularly strong. Before the match, competitors are offered a a special drink - simply named "The Creamy" - an ancient recipe which is said to temporarily increase your strength and vitality. One shot of this, and anyone could take on Goliath! (And not just in a fight.) By the way… those who lose the competition are mysteriously compelled to accompany the victor for the day, waiting on them hand and foot, anticipating and fulfilling their needs before they are spoken. Did the 'bots forget to mention that? III. Graciously Given Gifts![]() While swimming in the nude is completely acceptable on the Island, the robots know that many residents still (for some reason) value their modesty. That is why they are happy to encourage beachside revelry and communion by making sure scanty swimwear is readily available to Islanders who are in need of something to cover up with - while still showing off your assets, of course. Islanders may purchase for themselves, but they are especially encouraged to gift swimwear to their fellow Islanders... in fact, any swimwear to be given as a gift is free! Not only is it a lovely gesture to let a friend or lover know you appreciate their body, but also, swimwear received as a gift is said to be very good luck in wet sand wrestling competitions. Naturally, the robots are sensitive to the emotional needs of their organic charges, and thus they wouldn't want any new, recent, or less personable arrivals to the Island to feel left out for not receiving gifts. That's why some Islanders will find surprise swimsuits in pretty gift wrap sitting on their literal or metaphorical doorstep… addressed with love from a random Islander! With thoughtfully written messages included, of course, usually complimenting the recipient's figure in graphic and/or poetic terms. If you have any manners, surely you'll find these mystery admirers and thank them for the lovely gift! (If you're really a person of culture, maybe you'll even show it off for them.) N A V I G A T I O N |
Nico Goldstein || Devil May Cry 5
Nico coughed, sputtering curses as she pushed her face out of the sand. The arms artisan had some very colorful language to go along with the colorful artwork that covered her arms and legs. She squinted as she looked around, trying to find her glasses.
She jumped in surprise when a robot spoke up next to her and held out her glasses, free of salt and sand. "Thanks," She muttered as she put on her glasses and finally got a good look around. "Where in the hell did I end up? There's no way in hell that this is anywhere near Redgrave city."
01. Beach Day
Nico always enjoyed fashioning different weapons out of some very weird stuff. She considered herself an artisan and could make just about anything from the supplies that she could find around her. So she had set herself up at a table by one of the food stands and acquired some of the shell scraps from the crabs that they were selling.
"It ain't much, but it's somethin'. Doubt they'd let me near the good stuff. I still don't understand why they picked me of all people ta be here," she muttered as she held up a small knife like device made out of a crab claw. She had other shell bits on the table in front of her. She set her creation down and sighed. She was getting kind of bored in this place. She was a weapon smith and this place didn't have any demons to kill and none of her friends were here either.
"Then again, they ain't got demons ta kill here."
01. Beach Day!
He just happened to be doing his best not to gawk at each of the people who passed him. But the strain in his expression was fairly apparent. His face seeming unsure which color to take, for embarrassment disgust and horror tended to do different things, and he was feeling a mix of everything at once.
Thank goodness there were at least some 'normal' stalls mixed among the strange ones. Food, trinkets, jewelry, but what really caught his eye was the small weapons stand that seemed to be shoved among them.
"Hah, you call these weapons?" There was an odd amount of humor in his voice as he looked the items over. Sure, some of them could perhaps do some harm but, bits of shells? Rough stones? Why these all felt so quickly put together. "Don't you have any metal daggers? And what about swords? Surely a weapons stand like this must sell swords."
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"This ain't nothin' but a kids toy. These assholes won't let me set up a true shop 'cause I'm too new and don't have tha 'credits' needed ta get the right supplies. They wouldn't even let me show 'em how a true weapon smith can work," she said as she stood up. She was a rather odd sight to see on the beach. Her top half was covered by partial welding leathers and her bottom half was barely covered by some cut off shorts.
She was still rather heated as she did her best not to get right in Su Minshan's face. She took a couple of deep breaths and sat back down. "Besides, I'm more of a gunsmith than a sword maker."
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"A what-smith? Is that supposed to be some weapon?"
What odd-sounding weapon was a 'gun'? It sounded pretty ridiculous. Surely it couldn't be anything that impressive.
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"Guns are ranged weapons. Dependin' on the model you can hit a fly off a wall from a mile away," she explained. "Some are made for close range, others for clearin' rooms of people with just a few shots. They can be small enough to hide in tha palm of your hand or big enough that they need ta be mounted on somethin' to be useful."
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"You specialized in ranged weapons?"
Ah, unfortunate. He had come to find one of the few possibly useful people in this land, and her specialty was his least skilled form of combat.
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Nico smiled as she thought about Ebony and Ivory, two guns that her grandmother made for Dante. She didn't think that she was as skilled as her, but she was also able to a lot of things with demon bits that her grandmother wasn't able to do.
"Guns are a lot louder and the projectiles they fire move a hell of a lot faster than a bow. Most people can't move out of the way of a bullet, or block them with shields."
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Why would anyone create some sort of strange loud noise-making bow? Surely the speed of the projectile wasn't that much of an advantage.
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However, coming across an unfamiliar woman's stand, LB looked positively fascinated as she glanced upon the knife contraption made from what looked to be a crab's claw? A low, compulsive laugh passed as she listened to the other woman speak, tilting her head for a moment before responding. There were a couple of things that caught her interest, but first off:
"You made that out of an animal?" There's no accusatory tone here, she was genuinely impressed!
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The van wasn't much, but it was her workshop on wheels. She didn't have any proper tools or materials to make any real weapons. And she wasn't quite sure if they would get taken away or not. "I was just tryin' ta see what I could do with limited supplies. I ain't even got any good demon bits to use."
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Still, as the woman continued, she brought up another topic that had initially caught LB's interest. "You typically make things out of demon parts? So... you're some sort of demon hunter, then?"
All LB had encountered before being brought here was soldiers and giant robots, so even the idea of literal demons was intriguing to her.
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Nico wasn't a fighter, but she could design some very interesting weapons. "I let the others do the fightin'. They're a lot tougher than I am. Plus the pay is pretty damn good."
thanks for no notif, gmail!!!
"That's incredible... then I suppose if you're not given much more than a crab, the results would be vastly different!" There's another compulsive laugh, and at this point it's probably obvious that it's not necessarily out of humor.
"The researchers and developers were pretty heavily protected in my world, so if you're capable of making things out of such rare materials, then yes, I can only imagine it'd be quite profitable."