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TDM 019 : ALL THE LEAVES ARE...
| TDM 19 |
Uploading user data to environmental systems. . . please wait.  Augmentations c̴̦͋o̷͓̺̘̓m̸̮̈̾́p̸̻̃l̵̠̱̤̅e̷̢̧̺͐̃̽t̸͈̓ḙ̴͙̓͘. Proceed . . .? Y/N > Y  Your eyes blink open to the blinding glare of overhead lights and the sight of a pair of glassy mechanical eyes boring into your own. The face above yours moves like liquid mercury, forming an approximation of a figure that you recognize and trust implicitly: a friend, a loved one, a caretaker. Perhaps even a god or a goddess. From its lips fall the patterns of a language that is strange and robotic, and yet familiar to you: Welcome to the N̵̩̈́̓ä̶͇́͂͘m̸̠͒e̴̞̻̾ͅl̷̹̄͝ḙ̷̺͗s̵̳͊̀ṣ̵̱̚ͅ ̶̧͒̄Í̴͔s̵̡̛̺̍̓ļ̵̥͖̄͛͌ḁ̸̳̟̒́n̵̻͑́͗d̴̩͕̰̂̊̔ Darkness overtakes you once again. I. Arrival  When you awake, you find you have washed up on the otherworldly pink sands of an impossibly beautiful beach, the tropical scenery spoiled only slightly by your seasickness. New arrivals, waterlogged and covered in sand, 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, all is available for your use. Stake your claim on a place to live in the now, whether an apartment in the City, a shack on the beach, or a bigger space at the House of Worship with friends. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each arrival's home. II. FALLING OVER YOU  The fall scenery and change in foliage continues into the new month. Leaves of red, orange, and yellow cover the trees and always seem to be falling, carpeting forests and dirt footpaths with the soft yet crunchy debris. Even the chillier temperatures don't seem to be going anywhere just yet. Maybe you need to head over to the tailor's or another clothing shop to get warmer outerwear. Or try the latest fall flavors at the Steaming Carafe Café. Everyone will get free hot chocolate that tastes like something warm, comforting...almost nostalgically familiar. There is even a shifting in the Island itself, a new area opening for visits. Wetlands with canoes for easy travel shaded by a thick canopy of trees, including dozens, branches an array of colors as they slip into fall themselves. Take one of the canoes from the boathouse or take a seat provided by your friendly robot helpers and you will find yourself on a leisurely ride through the waters. The robots are especially insistent on you not taking the ride alone and will find someone else to ride with you (or more than one someone). As you take the long route through the wetlands, you'll find two paths you can take, both lined with weeping willows to the point light filters through only when the wind blows. While Route A will seem normal and uneventful, taking Route B may find branches touching different parts of your body as you go. And you might even find those parts of your body suddenly begin to tingle with warmth and arousal. You may even move away from the willows to avoid the sensations, but somehow, someway, they reach out and continue to touch you. The more you try to avoid it, the more insistent the willows seem to become. They might even seem to tug at you, as if to try and remove the clothing that blocks them from reaching your skin. And the warmth will spread across your entire body, leaving you all the more aroused and in desperate need of relief. Completing an auspicious act will alleviate the symptoms, but if you resist until you reach the final bend of the ride, you'll find a beautiful waterfall where both routes meet. Touching the waters nearest to the falls soothes some of the heightened arousal, but a skinny dip will remove it all together, if leaving you chilled and in need of a cuddle your ride buddies will hopefully be willing to provide. III. HELLO, PLUMPKIN!  Along with the shifting foliage and cooler temperatures, pumpkins have sprouted all around the island! Some are attached to thick, twisting vines, others are randomly in places one might never expect. How did those pumpkins get on your roof? Or in your hammock? Did you put that pumpkin on your doorstep? A mystery has unfolded... Until the robots request your help in Plumpkin harvesting! No, no, not pumpkins. Plumpkins These odd creatures feline in nature...if cats were fluffy on top and pumpkin on the bottom. They enjoy causing mischief this time of year as they toddle or roll themselves around the island, putting pumpkins in odd places or playing pranks that some people might even first believe are caused by cherub dragons. But while cherub dragons are generally benign and playful, Plumpkins don't care if their pranks cause trouble, injury, or anything else. They are as chaotic as they are adorable. The robots will impress the importance of getting them calmed down and returned to their Plumpkin Patches and offer credits to anyone who helps in this round-up. Robots will even provide seeds that some Islanders may remember coming from a certain skull sunflowers. Plumpkins love these seeds and most will gladly follow anyone if a promise of more is there. Unfortunately, the supply is limited so you may just have to find a skull sunflower field and collect more. Do be wary of the potential effects of getting any of that sap on you... IV. GOOD WREATH  The robots continue getting into the seasonal mood, decorating the Island in the colors of fall, even in the areas not affected by the changes. They even invite all Islanders to their Autumn Wreath Craft Show! Wall to wall wreaths are lined up for display before they are taken to decorate the various doors, lampposts and shop windows around the Nameless Island and there are long tables where you can try your hand at making some yourself. There is a variety of supplies you can use, from different types of leaves, small dried fruits and vegetables, especially gourds, flowers (even skull sunflowers!), twines, ropes, and branches. Everything you could possibly need. But you may find that some of the items you pick do more than reflect your taste in wreaths, but also have an influence on you in return.
Load Simulation . . .? Y/N READY: Simulation 1.1 Tenebrae Town  Your consciousness comes to you in the midst of a dense autumn forest. You haven't been asleep. You stand there, fully clothed, but perhaps not in your usual attire - perhaps you're wearing a belted tunic with trousers and leather boots to protect you from the cold ground, or a long and modest dress with an apron and a hood, hand-sewn in natural fabrics. The chill in the air and even the smell of the dirt and the trees are not like those of the Island. This place feels old, a strange energy crackling in the air. Some may recognize it as a very ancient magic. In the distance, colorful lights dance between the trees. Approach closely enough and they look like fairies, but they are always just out of your reach. Are they leading you somewhere? No - if you follow them, as they seem to bid you, they will only lead you deeper into danger: a snarling wolf, a sudden drop into a craggy ravine. They are mischievous, sometimes cruel little things. You'll never escape this forest by yourself. For as long as you are alone, the night is interminable - days long, it seems. Are you the determined sort, willing to choose a direction and continue walking no matter what, or will you give into despair of being hopelessly lost? With any luck, it won't take you long to find out that your only way out is with the help of someone else. Only by agreeing to work together will the dawn finally break, and your path into Tenebrae Town will become clear. Should you refuse, or never cross paths with another Islander? Maybe the wolves will take you in. OOC Notes:To accommodate our smaller community and split-setting environment, TDMs going forward will be open to old and new players for top levels! Please state in your subject line whether you are a TDMing a new character, or top-leveling with a character currently in the game! Voting for Audience Choice Awards for Prompt III will be held in November. Threads should be started by the time you submit your entries, but need not be finished in order to win! Entries will still be valid if they include characters who TDMed but did not apply to the game. ALL participants in the contest may handwave one small Augur reward request equivalent to an incomplete thread reward. N A V I G A T I O N |
Xiao Xingchen | Mo Dao Zu Shi | current player
[When the island needs help - even for such trivial things like these harmless pranksters - Xiao Xingchen is quick to offer his services. Enduring their little tricks with just a light laugh to indulge them, he's soon followed by many with the promise of more skullflower seeds.
He's sure he can gather more from the source without hassle, but sure enough, skullflower sap oozes out onto his fingertips.
When he sees another person, he can only stop and stare for a moment, choked up with emotion.]
Zichen! You're... you're here again!
[He cups the other person's face, fingers brushing over every feature as if to be sure this is really him, unaware he's getting the sap on them as well. Something feels off, but his wish for this to be true stifles his doubt. There's still so much he had to say, no matter how useless it might be now.]
Good Wreath
[Xiao Xingchen takes to the wreath-making right away. Though the time comes with baggage he doesn't need to think of right now, he used to make weave baskets in the coffin house he lived in, carrying groceries back from the market. The branches intertwine together under his fingers, neat and tight. He isn't too daring with the decoration details, however, and the wreath becomes a circle of red leaves. Such a bright and vivid color contrasts with the white and black of his robes. It's rare that he ever wears this color, even with all of the clothes here...
Though as he's trying to fill off the last of it, he starts to nod off, head feeling heavy. He doesn't have time to consider the strangeness as he merely takes it as his time to leave.]
Please excuse me, I only...
[... need your shoulder for a moment, he means to say as he wraps his arms around another, before he crumples and lets all of his weight fall onto the person he brushed up against. As a slightly taller figure, hopefully the person can keep them both standing.]
[Feel free to wildcard or plot any other ideas~]
good wreath
Oh dear. Sir? Are you all right?
no subject
Mmhmm, just need a... rest...
[Laid out on the ground, his expression is momentarily soft and peaceful—though he turns towards the blurry source of the voice calling to him with bleary eyes. From what he can tell in his obscured senses, the person felt much smaller than him. What if they had fallen over?]
I apologize, I've troubled you...
no subject
Somewhere, deep down, she knew that it was probably something ridiculous the island did. Something in the air, in the produce and flowers they were using to craft the wreathes. But her mind didn't go there just yet. For all she knew, maybe he was just prone to collapsing to begin with. )
No, it is all right. Better you collapse upon me than hit your head on the hard ground. I, um...I am afraid I cannot move you somewhere more comfortable myself, however.
no subject
Blinking a few times from his head's comfortable resting spot, he sees the face coming into slightly better focus above him. Her appearance might have surprised him upon first arriving here, but now he's seen so many sorts of people daily that he doesn't give that matter a second thought.]
N-No need, I will be fine in a moment!
[One wobbly arm reaches up to rub at his forehead. Then he gestures with his hand in the direction the fiery-red wreath lies mostly finished.]
I was only making one of those... perhaps it could have been worse.
[He can't think of anything else that could have done this. There's one thing he's definitely learned:]
One can never fully place their trust in plants here.
no subject
Oh. Yeah. Nevermind. She got it. )
Do not rush. I can stay here as long as you need.
no subject
While being helped is also not new to him now, he's still a bit sheepish, especially if it's in a position like this and the other person clearly isn't thinking about it that way.
He's just going to keep his eyes shut while lying like this.]
Um... nothing else, I believe. W-Were you here for the wreath-making as well?
no subject
I was... ( she looked up to the stall, grimaced, then turned her attention back to him even as his eyes shut. ) I am reconsidering now, however. Who can say what other effects they may have on those unsuspecting.
( a beat. ) Forgive my rudeness. My name is Lioriley.
no subject
Ah, I am Xiao Xingchen. It is a pleasure to meet you, even if under circumstances such as these.
[He says it with cheer enough—the situation isn't that bad, relatively speaking. Though as he lies there and thinks about the wreathes, he can't help starting to sound a little more animated, shaking off the sleepiness.]
Perhaps it's foolish, but I do still want to finish my wreath. If there were any side effects of that sort, they might have already taken effect by now, so it's most likely fine. And... if there's no other certain side effects, we could help each other through effects like these.
no subject
( The bar was not very high. )
Oh. Ah - I suppose we could? At the very least, I can stand beside you to assure you do not collapse again while you finish. And if all goes well I will consider making one of my own.
no subject
That... sounds ideal. And I will stay with you during your work, as well.
[Which possibly doesn't need saying, but he's had the strange experience of people doubting his honor in this world—something he would never have known before. Trying to urge himself up while asking for as little suppose as possible, he stifles a groan as he gets himself up into a sitting position.]
We shouldn't let these sorts of things get in the way of what we want to do.
[Otherwise, they wouldn't manage anything fun (and not just the Augur's idea of "fun").]