acatalepsy_ooc | test drive meme # 4

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test drive meme # 4

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test drive meme #4

It happens in the blink of an eye.

One moment, you are home. Perhaps you are with your family, perhaps you are at work. It's a completely normal day . . . and then, suddenly, your stomach drops. You are overcome with a sudden sense of vertigo. You cannot see up, or down, or where you are.

All you hear is a voice -- light, bubbly, warm, soothing, in your ear:

Don't worry, darling. This won't hurt a bit~ ♥

For those who recognize the voice, it will sound a bit strained. Possibly tired. But the moment happens so quickly it's hard to pin down, and once that moment is over, you fall flat on your face. It's bright, warm, and humid. It takes a few seconds for you to gain composure and catch your breath. You think, for half a moment, that a hand is on your back, rubbing between your shoulder blades in comfort, but when you open your eyes, no one is there. You are surrounded by ancient stone buildings, with carvings you do not recognize etched into the stone. There's a sense of nausea, overwhelming and sudden, when you realize you aren't in Kansas anymore.

Even worse, it looks like Astoria has started to feel a bit festive, maybe even a little spooky.

THE TEMPLE OF BEGINNINGS.

Welcome to the "Home Base" of Astoria's Circle. What the actual name of the base is called is lost to the ages, and there's no sense of where you could find it, unless you started asking around.

At any rate, this is a central hub of the Circle, a place of powerful magic and mysterious energy. It is a scattering of ancient stone buildings and for the most part, it looks abandoned . . . except for what seems to be a few items, some rooms taken, items moved or organized, even a small garden planted. These are just the smallest hints that there are people here that have been here before you arrived.

Overall, it's fairly beautiful. However, it is definitely not modern.

Upon exploration, you find that the buildings are kept up by some kind of magic. Some of the rooms have items, things from other Circle members already settled, and others appear to be unclaimed. Pick your rooms, explore the grounds, see the beauty and wonder all around you in such a magical place. However, be careful -- there is some additional movement around the Temple that seems specific to the time of year.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN.

Fall has certainly arrived in the Circle . . . rich colors adorn the leaves, a crisp breeze is in the air . . . and in the center of the Temple itself appears to be a massive pumpkin. And, really, the word massive doesn't appear to do the gourd justice. It is nearly twelve feet tall and twelve feet wide, round and bulbous in nature. But what is even more bizarre is that the entire structure seems hollow . . . and the front of it, in a Jack-O'-Lantern facade, has a large grinning face.

No one says you have to go inside it, but if you're so inclined to scale through the mouth of the massive Jack-O'-Lantern, you will find a couple of things inside! One, the thing seems to be full of bowls of candy. Some candy might look familiar, but most of it looks a little weird. Two, there are floating candles spread throughout the pumpkin, creating odd shadows that cast about as the sun goes down. Three, the pumpkin changes expressions throughout the day. When you aren't looking, it goes from grimacing to smiling -- and it never seems to happen when you look!

Have fun celebrating the holiday, Circle. Astoria is just getting started.

SPOOKY SCARY SKELETONS.

If the pumpkin wasn't quite enough of a giveaway that Astoria has become spookily inspired to welcome her new guests, then this will have to do. Because right along the outside of the Temple of Beginnings, there seems to be a somewhat constant and fairly thick fog. It's the kind of fog that makes you think there's something there. And with some exploration, you'll find...there is.

Right in the distance there is movement, unnatural and sporadic.

Any further investigation into the movement will involve you moving further and further into the fog. But be careful, because this fog is thick enough to lose sight of where you've come from. With enough time, you can catch up with the movement, to find that what you've heard and seen just beyond your peripheral, are...skeletons. Animated skeletons. They're humanoid, almost cartoon, and are moving with little to no direction. They just seem to be shambling in whatever direction they can, with no purpose or reason. They are entirely harmless.

Except that if you get too curious, and get close enough to touch them, their heads will jerk towards you. They won't do much more, until you try and step away. It seems that by touching the skeletons, you've attracted their attention, and as you try to move away from them they will follow. And as they follow, they will attract the attention of other skeletons, and others, and others. If you're not careful, you'll collect an army.

They will not follow you across the boundary around the Temple of Beginnings, but everywhere else you wander, you will have an entourage. Depending on how long you spend with your skeletons friends, you might even find out that they will answer simple commands. Like dance.

FALL FEAST.

No matter how Astoria's thoughts on holiday cheer, she seems to have at least gotten one fall related item down- because on one of the days, you will wake up and find that in the middle of the Temple of Beginnings, where there is usually some green space and open grass, is now a very large table, extravagantly decorated. It seems to go on forever in each direction, which feels...a little impossible (but what isn't impossible here?) with plenty of chairs. The table has been decorated with fall ornaments (anyone familiar with the American 'Thanksgiving' will find quite a few similarities) with the only difference instead being the wide variety of food available.

Astoria is not limited to Turkey and Stuffing on this day - but rather, almost any kind of food or drink (minus any kind of magical abilities it may contain) is here on this table. Food and snacks from every reach of every world and galaxy is on display. Maybe you're going to spend some time searching out your favorite from home, or maybe you're feeling adventurous and want to try a piece of whatever is in front of you - you think it might be some kind of potatoes? If potatoes were slightly bioluminescent? Also, did that side dish move just now?

COMMUNICATIONS.

Upon arriving, you will notice on whichever is your non-dominant hand, you will have a fairly simply screen. A smart watch, if you will. Upon exploration, you will find that it has a directory of all those here with you at the Temple of Beginnings- names, and access to a direct message to them. The watch also has video, audio, and text capabilities, as well as what looks like a collection of messages sent to everyone who wishes to open them. This is your 'network', and also how Astoria can reach out and communicate with you.

There is nothing keeping you from removing and/or losing your watch! But remember that you will not have access to this network without it.

OOC: Also feel free to join us and other possible players on our discord server!

enjoy! ♥

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[ Arenvald sometimes forgets how intimidating he must seem, considering the people who know him are so friendly with him. The girl looks up at him like he's just kicked a puppy right in front of her and instantly he releases his grip on her shoulders, backing off half a pace. ]

It's alright. Nobody's going to hurt you, I promise.

[ Coming from an entire team of volleyball players, Yachi should be used to towering figures, but she is not and she won't ever be— that doesn't mean she doesn't quickly get used to it, though, especially when they're speaking gently and reasonably and she catches the movement out of the corner of her eye: one of the temple's misty servants drifting their way, intent on seeing if they need anything. Yachi can't tell the difference between a ghost who wants to help and a ghost who wants vengeance, though, so she ducks behind Arenvald and uses him as a shield between her and the ghost. ]

Do you see that?! I'm not the only one seeing that, right!!?!

[ It’s okay, Arenvald is a tank. He’s used to people hiding behind him for protection. Though he does crane around to try and look at her, before turning his gaze back to the misty shape of the Temple’s servant. ]

I see it. It’s perfectly harmless, so there’s no need to panic. It lives here, and just wants to see if we need help. It’s sort of like… a ghost butler.

[ Nailed it. ]

A ghost butler.........

[ Yachi can get a much better look at it hiding behind Arenvald and peering around his side, and if she's not screaming and running away from it, it almost looks...

No, it still looks like a ghost, but it isn't hurtling itself at her or dripping blood or rattling chains or doing anything dangerous, so she can feel herself relax a little- though the fact that it's a ghost and she doesn't believe in ghosts means she can't fully settle down. ]

How does it help...? Does it make things float, or... wake people up in the morning?

[ Can't ghosts not physically interact with the mortal realm or something like that? of the movies she's seen (with her hands over her eyes 99% of the time, probably), ghosts mess with things by levitating things, or passing through people to make them feel cold, or something to that nature. Not particularly helpful things. ]

They can pick things up like normal, for the most part. It’ll do whatever needs doing, usually fetching things for people or taking care of the Temple.

[ Arenvald gives a little shrug, but ultimately decides it’s best if he waves the specter away, softly telling it that they’re fine. That seems to be good enough for it, and it wanders off to fulfill its duties elsewhere. ]

They startled me when I first arrived here as well, but I promise they’re not here to hurt anybody. Are you alright, miss-?

[ She can breathe a little easier once it's gone, although that doesn't coax her out of Arenvald's shadow completely. It seems like it's helpful, but Yachi also likes being able to be helpful and if it's something she can do, she'd rather not ask for help- especially from ghosts and other spooky things.

There's a lot she needs help with for now, though, especially since she'd just arrived and knows nothing about nothing. ]

Um! I'm alright!

[ she does not look/sound like it, but... no, she's fine, wound up and anxious is just how she is, back straight and legs snapping together like she's a soldier ordered to stand at attention and report. ]

My name is Hitoka Yachi! It's good to meet you!

[ Twelve help him, this poor girl seems to be on the brink of a panic attack at all times. He turns to face her fully, now that the servant has gone. ]

Easy now, there’s no need for all that. My name’s Arenvald. I’m guessing you’re new here?

[ She's either on the brink of one or is actively having one, yeah. "Easy now" does little to relax her, but at least she lets herself stand a little more comfortably. Sort of like in a crouch, where she can be prepared to flee at any given moment's notice. ]

Mmhmm! I found myself here a couple hours ago...? But I can't be here! I'm not supposed to be here! There's been a mistake!!

[ Yachi pls.

Obviously, the truth of this place is going to freak her out even more, but he doesn’t want to lie to her or leave her in the lurch, either. Best to start gently. ]

I know, I know. It’s all very strange and confusing, isn’t it? Do you want to find someplace a bit quieter to sit and talk? I can try and explain what’s going on.

[ What she wants most of all is for him to throw up his hands and go "Surprise! This was a joke all along! Haha, that was funny, now let's get you home." but she keeps waiting and he keeps not doing that and strange and confusing doesn't even begin to touch upon all the fears and uncertainties she has about being here. She doesn't really want to go anywhere either (if she just stays put right where she arrived, maybe whatever wormhole that brought her here will come back) but she also feels like her knees might give out so maybe that's better. ]

Okay... If you can explain things, that would be the best! I won't mind where we go- I haven't gone anywhere else yet, so I don't know my way around.

[ Sorry, Yachi. Arenvald only just learned what a camera is, so he definitely won't be going “you're on Candid Camera!” anytime soon. He does feel for her, though. She looks so out of sorts, so it's very likely she doesn't come from a world like his own, where magic and strange happenings are commonplace. ]

There's a mess hall in the Temple. Mayhap if we get lucky, there will be something delicious cooking in the kitchens when we get there.

[ He turns, motioning for her to follow as he heads towards the Temple's mess hall. ]

[ A mess hall... Just what kind of place is this? It's hard to tell from the inside, and things they pass by keep looking so out of place to what she's used to- the large pumpkin, walls overgrown with vines and trees, people saying "mayhap"...

She keeps close to his heels as she follows, as much as she can without actually stepping on the back of his shoes. She really... doesn't feel hungry... she's sort of the opposite, stomach churning and sitting like a rock that gets heavier and heavier with each step she takes and each furtive glance she throws around her. ]

Umm... Have you lived here for a very long time?

[ Congratulations Yachi, you’ve just stumbled into what amounts to a Renaissance festival, but Actually Real.

Whether or not they actually eat doesn’t matter to Arenvald, but the mess hall is usually quiet, and there’s something about a kitchen that can remind one of home, he’s found. Hopefully the locale will help calm her nerves. ]

Hm. It’s been a few— [ he almost says “moons”, but corrects quickly ] –months. Four? Five? Somewhere in there. There are some people who have been here longer than that, as well

[ It's too bad she missed the plague, to give it even more authenticity!! ]

F-four or five months?! [ Moons would have been a better, if inaccurate, answer so she could imagine he means five nights instead of entire cycles. She expected maybe a week or two tops, but not entire months, or even longer than that according to him. ]

It's been that long and nobody knows how to go back? Or to stop this from happening in the first place?? If it's been so long, we definitely don't have time to walk around like this! We have to do something!! All those police reports back home!!!

[ Ah. This is what he gets for being honest, he supposes. ]

If we knew how to go back on our own, I think a lot of people would’ve done by now. I’m sorry. I know nobody wants to be forcibly dragged away from home, but Astoria seems to have good intentions at least.

Kidnappers don't have good intentions!?

[ Listen to yourself!!! Yachi grabs the sleeve over his elbow and shakes it insistently. ]

It's Stockholm syndrome!! You have to snap out of it!

I don’t think she’s a typical kidnapper—

[ Poor Yachi tho. She looks so distressed and he has to wonder if she knows how to be… literally anything else. ]

I, um. What’s Stockholm Syndrome?

[ They don’t have that where he comes from, or if they do, it sure doesn’t have that name, there being no Stockholm in Eorzea and all. ]

[ YEAH, SHE'S NOT A TYPICAL KIDNAPPER, what other kidnapper could steal away several dozen people from all around the multiverse all at once?? ]

It's when you get kidnapped, but you empathize with the kidnapper and are on their side despite what they did to you!

[ Which is exactly what this looks like to her, but even if she can rattle off a textbook definition of the term, she has no idea how to convince people it is what it is, or how to break the mindset and have them come back to their senses about how KIDNAPPING IS BAD, FRIENDS ]

Astoria hasn’t done anything. Nothing malicious, I mean.

[ He would be one of the few who doesn’t find being shunted from one world to the next to be “malicious” probably. He doesn’t like it, sure, but he’s willing to give their host the benefit of the doubt. ]

She needed people to help her, and I don’t think she really knew how else to go about finding those people.

[ Kidnapping counts as that something malicious!! Yachi isn't quite as trusting- not initially- but hearing him talk about Astoria needing help does take a little steam out of her. She bites at her bottom lip, shuffling her feet, because she recognizes that being in a desperate situation where you grab help no matter where and how and why, it must have been dire circumstances. She recognizes that without knowing the full story, she can't completely fault Astoria for it- she can be upset about it, and she's right to be upset, but she can't villainize Astoria for needing help.

It's just... ]

She picked the wrong person. I can't help at all. There's nothing I would be able to do to help- not anything that anybody else here would already be able to do.

[ Yachi slows, gaze turning inward in a way that is almost painfully familiar, and Arenvald slows right alongside her. It seems she’s less frenzied than before, but he’s not so sure he likes what’s come to take its place. ]

You don’t know that. Every single one of us brings something different to the table, and I’m certain you’re the same.

[ Yachi shakes her head, because she knows he's just saying that- they're nice words but they're universally nice words and while she's happy for them, she can also face the reality of her situation (a funny thing to think when she'd spent the last half hour absolutely rejecting the reality of this situation) ]

I'm- I know there are some things I can do. I'm learning how to manage a sports team, and my mom's a designer, so I know about that. But here... you don't need somebody who can design posters, or- or to teach English to people, or things like that. That sort of help doesn't sound like it matters.

Why wouldn’t it matter?

[ An honest question. If nothing else, Arenvald is genuine in his desire to help her find a place here. ]

I never went to school. It’s only because I found someone willing to teach me that I can read at all. If you can teach others, then that’s a wonderful skill to have.

I can only teach things I know, and it's just normal high school things! English and math and geography- those sorts of things!

[ There is absolutely no way Astoria dragged her across universes to be a teacher? Looking at Arenvald, she believes most people here are older than her and don't need that extra schooling- it's not like they have exams to worry about here. Even people who've never gone to school before, why would they need to know Earth geography when this isn't any place on Earth that she knows?? ]

You’re awfully fond of poking holes in my argument, aren’t you? Look, whatever you may think, I’m certain you weren’t brought here for no reason.

[ Astoria may be a bit out of her depth, but he remains pretty firm in his belief that everyone has something to contribute to the Circle. As hard as Yachi is on herself, he knows that she must have something to offer. ]

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cmyk - 2018-11-09 23:22 (UTC) - Expand

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