acatalepsy_ooc | 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! ♥

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ She does sound pretty excited about that, and Makoto can't help a reserved chuckle. Honestly, she's a little surprised to learn that the boys haven't somehow destroyed their own room — or, if they have, they still live in it. ]

I'd like that. Someone has to keep those two in line, so it falls to us without Morgana here.

[ Makoto did her fair share of keeping them in line, anyway, but in their not!feline friend's absence she will make sure to remind Akira to go to bed. ]

I could use your help with that, to be honest.

[Her shoulders sag slightly as they continue down the hallway towards the kitchen, an utter feeling of weariness coming over her.]

It's been kind of a lot to handle on my own. I don't know how you and Morgana do it back home when we're all together.

[The Phantom Thieves are not always the most mature bunch. Ann knows that sometimes she's not much better than the boys.]

[ They are not the most mature bunch, and sometimes, not even Makoto is immune to their antics. She might be more at risk here without Morgana to back her up! ]

Oh, we have our methods. [ She says, completely bluffing. Or is she??? ] In any case, I'm happy to back you up when it comes to keeping the boys in line.

[ And then, her tone turns a bit more somber. ]

Have you all...had much trouble here?

That... depends on how you define 'trouble,' I think.

[A sheepish smile follows— Ann may not have been exactly trouble-free herself, depending.]

It's just... different from home. We're not the ones running the show anymore, you know? Harder to keep track of everyone when we're in other worlds, too.

[That's a thing.]

It's not like being in Shibuya.

[ Makoto nods slowly to demonstrate her understanding, but she does her best not to let her worry seep through to her features. She doesn't like the idea of her teammates having trouble and not being there to help, but there's nothing she can do for that now. They can only move forward now. ]

We need to be more careful than ever here, don't we? If we really are traveling to different worlds, there's no telling what we might run up against.

[ The same was true in the Metaverse — there had always been a degree of unpredictability when infiltrating Palaces — but this is a whole other playing field. ]

These other worlds you've been to...what were they like?

[She nods in agreement. They've managed so far, but there was that time Akira wound up in an underground tunnel without the rest of his teammates... that had been pretty panic-inducing.]

So far, the smartwatches have let us keep in touch, but I don't think we should get too comfortable with relying on them. Literally anything could happen.

[She's been surprised time and time again since becoming a member of the Circle, and her tolerance for shenanigans is pretty high, all things considered.]

The first world was El Minha, a desert kingdom. It was just me and Akira then, but we got to help prevent a civil war. The other world we went to was called Struxta— this place that was full of androids. We were the only humans there.

[ A desert kingdom, and a city of androids...Makoto can't help but think of Futaba and Okumura's Palaces, and wonders for the umpteenth time if this world is somehow a fracture of the Metaverse — but no, it wouldn't make sense. Not that any of this makes sense anyway, but if it was the Metaverse, no doubt her teammates would have discovered as much already. ]

So, two worlds, and both wildly different from this one and each other... [ There really could be just about anything out there. ] Has she told you anything about where we might be headed next? The witch, I mean.

[ Somehow she doubts it, considering how Astoria hasn't been particularly forthcoming about a lot of things. ]

I wish.

[Some advance warning would be nice, but:]

We've never gotten a heads-up as long as I've been here. Just— you wake up one morning, or in the middle of the night, and boom. No more Temple of Beginnings. It's... pretty unsettling, actually. At least with the Metaverse, once we learned how to use the nav we could control when we came and went.

[Not having any kind of control here has been bothering her for a long while, actually.]

Of course...I suppose that would be asking too much...

[ She says dryly, with a small note of exasperation in her voice. Figures that a witch that took them without asking and effectively kidnapped them wouldn't give them any fair warning about where they're going to be spirited away to next. ]

So we just sit and wait to be called upon then?

[ She doesn't like the sound of that. ]

That's about the size of it.

[Ann gives her a grim smile in reply as they near the kitchen— it's not her favorite, either.]

I bet you can imagine how much we all love sitting around and waiting for orders.

[Read: not at all. They've all been bossed around enough in their young lives.]

I do think that Astoria means well, but I'm still not sure that's enough.

test drive meme # 4

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