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TDM 016 & 4th WALL EVENT: NO WALLS BETWEEN US
| TDM 016 & 4th WALL EVENT: NO WALLS BETWEEN US |
00. An Arrival and a Broken Wall?! You should be coming 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 should be greeted by robots who welcome them with towels and bracelet devices. The A5 card already loaded up, and if you don’t manage to get away from them quickly enough, they should 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 should be given a complimentary towel to leave with if needed! Should. That’s how things are for newbies - and maybe today, some newbies will arrive the usual way. Others might be surprised to hear that there is another "you"... already here! If and when you finally meet this other "you," there's simply no way to agree on who the so-called real version is. Your histories may be the same or they may be wildly divergent, but those little differences don't change the fact that you are who you say you are. Some islanders might even find themselves running into a much older or younger version of themselves. Duplicates and doppelgangers, you say? People who look and sound familiar but are just a little bit off? What strange anomalies have washed up from the ocean! On the other hand, maybe you’re not new here at all, or so you think. You’ve definitely been on this Island for months already. You can't exactly remember what you were doing here before, but you have the modest home and personal effects to prove that you existed. You’ve always been someone who greets new arrivals at the shore. You know very well how things work on the island, and how many of the buildings are abandoned and in dire need of repair. You know that 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. You know all of this. You’ve already claimed 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. You’re a veteran at this by now. Aren’t you? I. A WHOLE NEW YOU The fog has thickened off the shores of the Island and in the areas that have still been obscured. So thick that it looks not unlike the heavy clouds of the recent storm. But late into the night and early into the morning, the fog seems to encroach on the Nameless City even more, blinding and catching Islanders traveling through in areas normally free of its effects. Anyone who gets caught in the especially heavy mist might find themselves suffering from more than just the usual amnesia. The fog no longer only takes memories, but can also alter your memories... and you. You may forget your time on the Island. You may forget your life before. But you’ll remember something else. You’ll remember a life entirely different as if you lived it yourself: you are a merperson who has always lived here, in the waters around the Island. Those grand underwater cities look like ancient ruins to others, but to you? You still see them as beautiful and palatial as the day they were built. You are a Native whose memories are fuzzy, but you certainly remember living your entire life here in great happiness and luxury. And once you step out of the mist, you might even find yourself physically changed to match what you recall, with fins or tentacles and gills to allow you breathe beneath the waves. You might be completely transformed, or just enough to make life underwater as easy as it's ever been. Someone else attempting to free you of these delusions will find that the more they try to force you to remember your true life, the more real and convincing your undersea life begins to feel. You must embrace this new (old?) life, embrace this new you in all ways and live it to its fullest. Completing Auspicious Acts will help bring out glimpses, hints, flashes of memory and recognition that perhaps this is not who you once were, and allow you to return to your former self. But the longer you take to embrace this, the harder it might be to let go. Some of these changes could become permanent. II. LET XXX BE YOUR GUIDE Things have been strange, not just for the people of the Island, but the robots as well. The typically welcoming robots that offer their assistance in guiding new arrivals or encouraging Islanders to visit the various locations seem to be scarce. There are fewer of them running around the entertainment district and other establishments. To ensure that new arrivals continue to have a pleasant Island experience, robots will be recruiting Islanders as mentors and guides: mentor guides, if you will! Volunteers will lead other Islanders around the Island as a means of helping them become better acquainted with the locations available here for your fun and entertainment, and they will be rewarded with credits for their hard work. Guides and sightseers alike could be someone fresh and new to the Island, someone who insists they’ve been here for years, or even someone that a robot randomly dragged off the street. Mentor guides will all receive a very form-fitting and revealing uniform - no two are the same! - and, of course, a glossy paper map of all of the available sights on the Island. The pictures are big and detailed, and cute sex toy icons point out various key sights such as the recreation center, the bath house, and the library. There are even suggestions for which Auspicious Acts are the best for each location! Strangely, none of the maps list the same suggestions, so each map encourages its own unique experience. Mentees will also find that their mentor’s voice is very appealing. So appealing that just listening to them speak is enough to get you feeling some kind of way. The more they talk, the more of a reaction you have. Your body begins to burn or itch and it’s very hard to pay attention to their words when thoughts about all the things you could be doing to them instead keep coming to your mind. The only way to relieve these thoughts might be to make your mentor stop talking altogether, or follow through with some of those helpful map suggestions. Maybe you need them to mentor you in more ways than one? III. SITCHES GET GLITCHES You’re walking down the road, or in your own home, or visiting a friend and suddenly something happens out of the corner of your eye. There’s a soft pfzzzzzzt and the feel of static on the skin. You turn and realize that the wall is suddenly gone. Or, maybe the glass in a store window disappeared. Perhaps someone’s clothes just vanished off of them in the middle of the street, or the chair you were sitting in at the cafe suddenly poofs right from under you. It’s as if the world around them is malfunctioning - little glitches that can last for seconds, hours, or even days before returning to normal on their own. Nothing that could seriously harm someone, but enough to be quite inconvenient. At least completing an Auspicious Act in the affected area or with the affected person seems to put it to rights immediately. Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop these glitches from happening again. You may be concerned, and the robots understand, but if asked they will insist it’s just the world adjusting as the Augur welcomes so many new people! Nothing to be worried about, obviously. It will take time for fluctuating energy levels to adjust, that’s all. Some robots might even say it’s the perfect time to enjoy having so few barriers between you. Embrace the open nature of the Island and share yourself and your home with others. Walls are only meant for keeping out what you could be letting in! OOC Notes:Enjoy a mini Fourth Wall event, Islanders! As such, this test drive meme is open for anyone to create top levels, not just prospective players. Current player characters, characters you want to play in the setting but can't app full-time, drive-by castmates, duplicates, canon AUs, characters that normally would not be allowed such as fandom AUs and genderswaps (not including characters under 15), formerly dropped characters, etc. are all encouraged to come in and play! As all other test drive memes, this one will be game canon. Characters who fourth wall but do not app will disappear after a few days to a week, along with their home (if applicable) and all of their possessions. Please label your top levels as to whether you are test driving [TDM] or fourth walling [4W]. (Of course, you are allowed to change your mind! But our rules regarding appable characters will still apply.) Since auspicious acts are an integral part of this event, potential and current players can swap one Auspicious Act on their card for one of their choosing, if needed for any of the prompts. As usual, prospective players can use an Act and swap it onto their card if they choose to app into the game. If you have any questions, please ask them below. N A V I G A T I O N |
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"O-Of course." She managed after a moment, hurriedly averting her gaze from his and moving to follow along beside him. As they walked, she occasionally looked down to the bracelet on her wrist, then to the one on Eskel's, then just around them in general while she tried to memorize which way they were going and any easily distinguishable landmarks. After a few moments she slowed her pace and squinted at a pile of debris nearby. "That...is that a bag?" Was that her bag?
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And it's then that she slows, then points something out. Eskel follows her gaze and sees the bag. "Looks like. I'll check it out."
He approaches the debris. The item in question is under a few pieces, which he shoves aside with ease. Yup, it's a bag, all right. The witcher picks it up by the strap and carries it back to Lioriley.
"This familiar to you?" Eskel hasn't gotten her scent yet, so he'll have to just ask.
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"Oh - be careful." She called, peering around a little more pointedly now to assure no one or no thing decided now would be a good time to pounce on him. Thankfully, Eskel returned unscathed and now with a very familiar bag in his hand.
"It is mine." She said, bewildered. She crouched down to open the slightly waterlogged leather bag, pulling out a few items - a now damp journal, a book with a half-naked man holding what appeared to be a swooning woman called A Knight In Lodorrim's keep, and a short white dress buried at the bottom. "I do not recall packing much of this..." especially not the book. Mostly because she had read it already and had no use for it in the castle she was in. "I suppose this solves my clothing issue for now."
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As he speaks, he looks over what's been pulled from the bag, besides the dress. It's then that he really realizes what's on the novel's cover. He arches an eyebrow.
"'A Knight in Lodorrim's Keep'? Ain't heard of it, but if the cover's anything to go by, it'll fit in here."
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A chuckle - perhaps the first genuinely amused sound she had made thus far. "It is a tale of romance and intrigue, where a valiant knight rescues a princess from an evil sorcerer. I have read it and countless others like it plenty of times - I wonder if the Augur thought it amusing to put it in with my things."
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Eskel nods, then leads her a few steps off the road. They haven't gone far; the clearing he chooses to "camp" at is a stone's throw from the beach, and the rolling waves are still audible. He gathers up some wood and burnable bits as he responds.
"It likely did, as much as a machine can be amused. Could be it wants you to use the book for inspiration. Maybe even act out any intimate scenes."
"Well, I'm definitely not a knight, and I don't see any evil sorcerers around. But - "
With a makeshift fireplace setup, Eskel gestures over it. A magic sigil briefly appears, and then the firewood bursts into flames.
" - I can save your stuff from being damp, at least."
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"A fear I am hardly a princess either. Just a scholar and a mage." She said as she sat down beside her things, the towel around her sliding up along her thighs to reveal more of those pulsing, glowing lines. "You have a talent for magic yourself, it would seem."
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But for now, he takes his seat nearby. His eyes trace the little bit of her body lines that the towel reveals.
"I can perform the standard spells of my kind - we call 'em signs. They're not as flashy as what an actual mage can pull off, but we're not about flashy. The sign I just used is called Igni. It can light fires 'n candles, or set an enemy ablaze."
"Speaking of mages, should be interesting having another one here," he continues, gesturing to Lioriley. "Seems like magic can differ between worlds. Discussing the nitty-gritty of it all's real fascinating."
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"Where I am from, Valsheria, a mage can only align their soul to certain schools, and once they do the element that opposes it is impossible to learn. Like your Igni would fall into the Conjuring or fire school, which is opposed to the Alchemy - water and ice - that I have learned. So I could not do such a thing on my own."
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"Whole lot to tackle there. I'll start at the beginning: I'm a witcher. We're not a race, exactly. We start human, and are then strengthened through mutagens and alchemy - that is, our version of alchemy, which sounds different than yours. Enhanced senses, strength, endurance, reflexes, the ability to use signs...all for the purpose of making us the ultimate monster hunters. For hire, that is." As he speaks, Eskel indicates to his yellow, cat-like eyes, then the two swords strapped to his back.
"Speakin' of signs and alchemy, no, they aren't all related to an element like Igni is. Aard is a blast of force. Quen makes a shield. Just as some examples. As far as I know, mages in my world aren't tied to one particular magical practice, though they might specialize or excel in one. Alchemy is the craft of working with herbs, animal and monster parts, and other ingredients to make potions, medicines, and the like. Witchers have increased resistance to toxins, and we use that to our advantage in alchemy. A witcher's potion would kill a normal person."
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"I have met monster hunters before." She said, shifting to prop her elbow on her knee and her chin in her palm, the game of 'how far could her towel ride up her thighs before it was absolutely pointless to even have on' coming closer to an obvious conclusion as she did so. "But none such as your Witchers. Simply humans or elves or what have you that have trained in finding such beasts. If your kind are as talented as you claim - I fear you would run the lot of them out of their guilds in shame." she chuckled, even if it wasn't really a joke.
She nodded along, listened as intently as she had pretty much everything else he had said since they met not long ago, her leylines constantly flickering with excitement and curiosity while she resisted the urge to ask a thousand questions. "Herbalism and Animism could be easily compared to the method of potion and medicine making that you have described. Different words for essentially the same concept." a beat. "Have you had to put your abilities to use much here?"
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He smirked and chuckled with her, feeling a small swell of pride in his chest. (And also in his trousers, after watching her towel rise up that little bit more. Though gentleman enough to let her know when it happens, he still intended to look.) "We got tough monsters in my world, so we had to get tougher. And with the worst of the lot, it feels more like putting us on even standing, and not an advantage." Eskel shrugged. "Made it this far, with plenty of scars to show for it."
Scars which Lioriley might end up seeing if they both end up naked.
"Some, yeah. I go out to the wilderness once or twice a week. Just feels more at home to me, I guess. I do some monster slaying in-between gathering and exploring out there. Hasn't been anything too bad, but because there's creatures from other worlds, I've had to do some quick learning on my feet."
Eskel leaned in, a new question coming to mind and tongue. "So you're a mage of water and ice, you said? What's that entail?"
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"A shame to think our worlds are similar in that regard." She had not known prior to her arrival that other worlds even existed, but now that she did she could not help but feel bad that terrible monsters and the like existed outside of Valsheria — that worlds beyond her own were full of chaos and suffering. "But it is good Witchers such as yourself exist, then, to protect others."
She tilted her head slightly and nodded once more. "I would imagine. Perhaps you would be willing to allow me to join you on such ventures in the future? Ah, when I am better equipped, I suppose. I am not unfamiliar with traveling through treacherous lands, though I do try to avoid conflict if ever possible." She could handle beasts, though. Beasts didn't beg for mercy or make her cry at the thought of harming them while they tried to rip her throat out.
"As well as a mender, but I suspect you can gather what that might entail." She said with another soft laugh. "As for alchemy, well, I am able to do a great many things. Create water, freeze it, manipulate it as I see fit." and as Eskel drew closer, Lioriley raised her hand up and splayed her fingers out, swirling them in a circle so the glowing lines coiled around them left little wisps of blue in their wake. In the center of her palm a small sphere of water formed, seemingly out of nowhere, and slowly began to ice over around the curved edges. "I am also able to breathe underwater — as well as grant such an ability to others, and I do not feel the cold. The latter proved a great boon while I lived in my homeland, deep in the cold northern mountains as we were."
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He watched her display with rapt attention. With his medallion already rattling against his chest, the spell didn't make much of a difference. Although at one point, he couldn't help but turn his attention away from Lioriley's spell to Lioriley herself. Her glowing lines accented her body; the display was beautiful, and the witcher wondered what their patterning looked like elsewhere, or perhaps if he could make her glow like this.
But Eskel's attention quickly returned to talking about her and her magic. It was too fascinating a conversation to turn away from for too long. "Mighty impressive magic you've got. Breathing underwater? Damn, we can hold our breath longer than normal folks, but that's even better." As he continued, his tone became more familiar. "And you're from the mountains? That makes two of us."
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Thankfully, even with the obvious glances and admiration of her form, Eskel seemed just as enthralled by the conversation they were currently having. The Lunari smiled brightly, tossed the ball of half frozen water in the air and curled her fingers inward into her palm so the ball would burst, misting lightly around them before dissipating entirely. "I have had plenty of time to practice." said with a soft laugh, "A little over six centuries, to be precise. It did not come easily." and she had fumbled a lot in her youth, as so many did. Her interest was piqued a bit more now as he continued to speak. "Oh? Do you find yourself missing the cold if you are so far from it? I have not visited my homeland such a long time - and the east is far warmer than I was used to when I first arrived there."
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In other words, the forge makes battle bikinis.
"Yeah, that's plenty of time to get good at it." The witcher paused and looked to Lioriley's pointed ears for a moment. "Mind if I ask what race you're of? You mentioned elves, and you got their ears and longevity, but the purple skin and magic markings, not so much."
Eskel watched Lioriley turn her magic trick into mist. He sighed softly as its chill brushed against him. "I do. Much as I like the beach, the cold feels like home."
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A beat. Had she really not said? "I am a Lunari. I shall not bore you with the long tale of our origins, but simply put we are descendants of the original elves of Valsheria. We are the one of the three groups that branched from them — the ones that, as you might have guessed, focused wholly on magic and harnessing the energies of the places of power surrounding the city we founded. If you were to refer to me as an elf, I would not be offended." it wasn't technically correct, but it wasn't wrong either. Also, she just didn't care so long as he wasn't calling her names.
"Forgive me if this is too bold a statement, but should ever you require a reminder of the cold, I could easily give you a taste of it." It was, at least to her, an innocent suggestion, even as she waved her hand around again for emphasis. A bit of a chill touch wouldn't hurt, right?
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"Hm, I might just have to take you up on that. Should be able to get some tea or mulled cider to go with," he responded, smiling lightly. "Ain't too bold at all. Especially not on this island, heh heh."
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It didn't.
"That sounds nice. Are there taverns or something similar to find such things?"
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"There's a pub or two, yeah. The island's got quite a bit to offer at this point. I run the stables myself. Folks can keep their personal steeds there, and there's also these big birds called chocobos available to borrow."
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The dress fell into place just as her towel loosened and pooled at her feet, baring a bit more than she would have liked with the sheer fabric, but ultimately seeming far more suitable than walking around in a towel. She guessed. "Oh, I should like to see those." she chuckled. "At this rate I may as well ask for an island tour."
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But then her dress wasn't all that different from the towel. It seemed libido still won a little bit, after all. The witcher forced his eyes to her own, instead of her nipples.
"Might just be doable," Eskel answered playfully. "There's plenty to see. Having a guide would be a good thing. You can pay me back by buying a round at whatever tavern we end up at. Or by another way, if you're up for it."
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Instead she just stood there for a moment, staring into those cat-like eyes with a violet blush once more crawling along her cheeks. Lioriley did not often notice or care much about physical appearance or how attractive she found someone - but she would be lying if she said she didn't find Eskel attractive. Clearly strong, tall, battle-scarred. Not to mention kind and surprisingly gentle in how he had guided her thus far. Oh. No.
"We shall see how I am faring by then." She murmured noncommittally, but for whatever it was worth...she didn't seem turned off by the idea entirely. "I do not think I even have the courage to look and see what the Augur has asked of me yet."
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Later, though, as they both said. He nodded. "That's fine. No rush. If you wanna find me first, I'm usually at the stables."
He paused, his gaze turning to her bracelet. "There's no rush on that, either. No time limit, far as I've seen. Think I've thrown enough at you for one day, though. Ready to move on?"
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She sighed with minute relief - as if she truly feared there was some time limit on the card that had been thrust upon her. She could take her time, at least to some degree, in actually working up her courage to look it and then actually participate in such acts. "I am inclined to agree. Yes. Please." She gathered up her things (including the towel, just in case) into her bag and looped it over her shoulder, motioning for him to lead the way.
"Where, um...where do you stay, if you do not mind my asking?" Surely not in the free housing, right? He had been there so long she could only assume he had moved up in the world.
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