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acatalepsy_ooc2018-10-19 02:32 pm
acatamods) wrote in acatalepsy_ooc2018-10-19 02:32 pm
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test drive meme # 4
 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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[This, too, is the opposite of what North wanted. But here they are, dealing with a very energetic dog. She had stuck around here with the intention of gaining some solitude, thinking no one would be stupid enough to willingly step into fog this thick. Obviously, she stands corrected.]
Just— Don't come closer! And don't throw anything else. [Even if that little rock did shit.] I'm going to go get him.
[Since... she's clearly not going to get any peace and quiet until this is taken care of. Now she has an entirely different problem, though. What does one do with a dog? How are dogs? Why are dogs???? She's never actually had to deal with one — and it shows. Her movements are kind of stilted as she starts approaching Sumo, clapping lightly. She can't exactly sneak up on him when he already knows she's here, so. Maybe she can get him to come to her??
Maybe.]
... Hey there, [uh] boy. Come here.
[Bad.]
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Hank hopefully won't have to worry too much - Sumo does run toward her, but tries to turn away too soon to be in arm's reach. If she leaps and manages to catch him Sumo will squirm around, barking, still very excited, and if she doesn't touch him he'll bound away in a half circle around her, giving a couple smaller, excited barks and stopping to stare at her from another angle, panting and looking playful - or, you know, playful to someone who can read dog body language.]
You sure you don't want me to come any closer? Or uh, do you and all your weirdo friends back here have it all under control?
[What was she even doing back here with all the really-not-skeletons, anyway? Hank's chasing his dog. No one else has an excuse.]
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Without any fancy preconstruction software to fall back on (not that it would work here, anyway), she ends up miscalculating the moment she needs to move in order to catch him. And while she does manage to latch onto the dog — she's basically holding him by his rear end, knees on the ground and trying to keep him from squirming away. This is not, in fact, effective doggy corralling.]
It's fine. [IS IT?] I've got it under con— [—trol. She's got it all under control!!
Except she totally doesn't. And she's totally getting interrupted mid sentence by Sumo smacking her in the face with his tail in the midst of all his squirming. Saint Bernards are Big.
Just come get your dog, Hank, before this dumbdumb lets it go again.]
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Yeah, looks like it. You look like those people who try to catch pigs.
[He starts moving closer, trying to be slow enough that Sumo won't get any more excited. His success is kind of limited; Sumo doesn't move but his tail does start wagging faster, and while Hank's flinching away, grimacing, from the not-skeleton he just accidentally touched Sumo barks and all his minions who'd started to slow down or even stop speed up again.
Hank looks at the mess between him and his dog. He sighs. Sumo's probably going to start jumping around in a second, or trying to run if the poor woman's particularly unlucky.]
Ah, fuck. You can just let go, he'll come back on his own, uh, probably. After a while.
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She has to pull back to avoid smacked in the face again, her system registering the impact despite her inability to feel pain. Sumo's definitely gearing up to jump and run around, and as much as North would love to reclaim her Peace and Quiet out here in the fog — this shit ain't worth it.
She lets go of the dog, allowing him to run amok and do the monster mash with his minions before he gets the chance to drag her around. Farewell, Sumo. You're free now. Go to Jericho.]
Your funeral. [She's cleaning her hands of this... It's not her fault if it's now Lassie's turn to fall down the well.] I'm getting out of here.
[Good plan. Dubious execution. Between the three of them, there are plenty of skeletons to go around, some of them even running around in circles around them thanks to Sumo. This means that she kind of has to shove her way through a couple to even start walking back to the Temple. Or, you know, in the direction she's estimating will maybe lead her back to the Temple. Kind of hard to tell with the thick fog and all.
Either way, she's over this? Sorry but not sorry if a couple of their boney friends end up getting shoved Hank's way. She did not appreciate getting compared to a pig wrangler at all.]
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[Hank doesn't want to touch these weirdoes, he doesn't want it so much, so when they tumble at him he shoves at them with a noise of disgust and a couple go down, tripping over each other. The impact breaks a couple of those fake bones off, which is... well, it's gross, but Hank looks down at them, and he looks at Sumo and the woman, both going in opposite directions - Sumo is absolutely heading deeper into the woods, it looks like - and, hell, it's not like there's a stick big enough for Sumo in arm's reach, anyway.
He grabs a loose 'bone', grimacing, and waves it around, calling out to Sumo in a fake-bright voice.]
Hey Sumo! Sumo! Buddy! Wanna play? Wanna play fetch? Fetch?
[And now that that's got Sumo's attention, Hank turns templeward and throws and, hey, it turns out Sumo running that way has a consequence. Who knew.
So Sumo gives a deep, happy bark and runs toward the bone, and his minions run after him, and Hank runs at her, warning her as he goes and wanting to try to grab her or her clothes or something to pull her out of the way.]
Hey! Might wanna, uh... [He glances behind him, gauging the speed of the oncoming hoarde.] ...find cover, maybe.
no subject
Any attempts Hank might make to grab her will earn him a literal slap on the wrist from North, but. Well. As much as she'd love to chew him out for it, any incoming rants are cut short once she hears his warning and takes note of the horde heading their way.]
Oh, shit! [Hm. Bad. She's picking up the pace now.] What the fuck did you do?!
[... Because even if she didn't see him try to play fetch with Sumo, her first assumption is that he did A Thing anyway. Regardless — she's still pretty fast even with her abilities nerfed, and she's still very much capable of analyzing the area around her thanks to having a computer for a brain. The only problem, however, is the fact that they're surrounded by nothing but thick fog. She has to assume that the vague outlines she sees in the distance are trees and not like, giant ass skeletons.
(She'll take her chances with giant skeletons if it means not getting trampled, though.)]
Over there!
[Swerving in that direction, hopefully out of the path that Sumo and his entourage will take. If Hank doesn't keep up, she's going to grab and yeet him if she has to.]
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What, like I'm interrupting your big plans of sitting on your ass in the creepy fog in the middle of nowhere!
[So what if he did something. It's fine. This is all fine.]
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[Look. Listen. She's not going to bother pretending that wasn't exactly what she was doing?? She doesn't care what anyone thinks of her when she was busy having a lowkey crisis, tapping away at her smartwatch after realizing that she couldn't interface with it. Let her live.
North's hands are pretty gross after 1) sitting on the ground and 2) trying to wrangle Sumo into submission, though. Hank should be able to twist and pull out of her grasp if he yanks his arm back quickly — before she can tighten her grip on him. He gets a hiss of frustration in response as North adjusts to the sudden loss of weight.]
What the hell's your problem? I'm trying to help you, asshole! [""Help"", really.
She looks back at the army that's quickly catching up to them, though. Looks towards the spot she identified as safe. Looks back at the mob. Thinks. Contemplates. Strongly considers just fucking body slamming into Hank to get them both out of the way... Which is definitely going to happen within the next few seconds if he's still moving too slowly for her liking. God.]
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[And that's as far as Hank gets into apologizing for acting like she's too gross to yank him to safety when she fucking slams him into it. He cuts off with a surprised noise, rolling to a stop and pushing himself up onto his elbows to peer around the tree. The world's stupidest skeleton army is charging past right at this very moment and he starts laughing, looking away from them back toward her.]
Shit, it's been a long time since someone fucking tackled me to safety. Your 'help' is really fuckin violent, you know that?
[It doesn't sound like an accusation, the way Hank says that. It kind of sounds like a compliment. No broken bones, and they're not getting trampled either, so. Fuck it, that's a result.]
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[He may not have meant it as an accusation, but her first instinct is still to snap back with sarcasm, perpetually on the defensive against humans. He's Sumo's owner, so she's holding him completely accountable for this entire fiasco... and she may or may not vaguely regret helping him at all. But, well. The alternative doesn't quite sit right with her, and that's definitely a thought that North is going to quietly and casually shove into a corner of her mind before she can think too much about it. Humans suck, mankind was a mistake, etc etc.
Once skeletongate2k38 has moved way past them, though, North pushes herself up to her feet so she can begin to dust herself off. It takes her exactly one (1) second before she's grudgingly casting a glance in the direction Sumo ran off into, frowning. God. This is stupid. She's now decided that dogs are her least favorite animal.]
If your dog doesn't fall into a ditch on the way back, get him a leash. Do you understand?
[Wow. It's not like she's concerned over the dog or anything...! Except she kind of is? Bad. Somewhere in the immediate vicinity, the parts of their own skeleton armies that survived rattle their bones.]
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Hey, no harm no foul, you saved my ass, Sumo cleared out the creepy woods a little for you so you can go back to whatever the fuck you were up to without so much shit blocking the view - it all worked out. No harm done, right? Unless you were planning on building up an army of the undead out here so you can go storm the fortress of weird, in which case, uh. I'm sorry my dog stole all your soldiers?
[In other words - no, Sumo's not getting a leash. Finding a leash and getting him used to it sounds like a lot of work.]
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Why would I—?
[Sarcasm. Obviously. She cuts herself off immediately, mouth snapping shut as gives him a withering look.]
Forget it. You can keep the "creepy woods" for yourself if you'd like. [She won't be able to chill after this, anyway. God.] But I'm heading back to our prison. You're welcome.
[She is 100% salty about getting drafted into a peacekeeping mission, and being a dramatic piece of shit and calling the temple a prison is absolutely necessary. It's fine.]
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[He stands, brushing himself off a little and turning to try and see the way Sumo went. That's probably the way back, right? Sumo knows where he's going. Probably.]
We'll kind of be walking in the same direction though, so I'd hold off on any dramatic exit lines until we get up there.
[He raises his eyebrows, giving her a sarcastic smile.]
Unless you got a real good one, in which case you can go ahead and give it and stomp off and I'll just pretend I can't see you the whole way back, up to you.
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How considerate of you. [Dryly. Like she wasn't the one to start being petty in the first place. Wow.] I'll pretend to be distraught later, just for you.
[Okay. But she totally started this?
Anyway— Pushing herself away from the tree, she turns on her heel and starts walking in the same direction Sumo ran off to. The benefit of having a computer for a brain is that your sense of direction is on point, so? Looks like Lassie isn't going to fall down a ditch, after all.]
aaaaand fade
Hank doesn't push it. It won't take long to get back, anyway; he walks back to collect his dog in silence.]