TEST DRIVE MEME #5.

[acatamods]

I ▫ main IV ▫ premise       XI ▫ applications XIV ▫ activity II ▫ logs V ▫ rules VII ▫ bestiary   IX ▫ canon updates XII ▫ taken XV ▫ drop/hiatus III ▫ ooc VI ▫ faq VIII ▫ setting   X ▫ mods XIII ▫ reserves XVI ▫ players test drive meme #5 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. You fall flat on your face. It's bright, warm, and humid . . . for now. Weirdly, the weather seems to be entirely in flux. One moment, it is warm and humid, and within the next handful of hours, it is starting to snow. Whatever is going on with Astoria seems to be messing with the atmosphere of the Temple, and as a result, you are having something of a wild entrance to Acatalepsy. It takes a few seconds for you to gain composure and catch your breath. 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. Indeed, it seems as if you have fallen down the rabbit hole. A weird, mysterious, snowing-yet-humid rabbit hole. 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. HAPPY UN-BIRTHDAY. The kitchen has become overtaken with a flurry of activity. Vines have woven their way into the area of the Temple typically reserved for food, and there is a massive tea party! What a splendiferous thing -- surely this can't be all that bad. There is such a massive array of food here that it almost seems impossible to know where to start . . . tea and cookies set out with messages that read “EAT/DRINK ME." Well, if you insist. However . . . certain foods and drinks have certain effects upon your person that are wholly unexpected. Well, drat. If you taste the rosehip tea, you are suddenly infatuated with the first individual you lay eyes on. They are everything to you. You think you may even want to propose, immediately, right now. Weddings, I love weddings! Tasting the ladyfingers will cause you to spill your deepest secrets to whoever is nearby. Have a secret crush? Not anymore! The entire room has to know about it, and you somehow can't seem to shut up about whatever you've been trying to keep quiet. A sip of the chamomile tea will cause you to become ridiculously sleepy. That corner looks like a particularly delightful place to take a nap, doesn't it? Maybe someone else wants to nap too. The Madeline cakes cause a ridiculously high spike in happiness. Nothing can get you down, not even the grumpiest of people. Smile, smile, smile! You need to spread this joy to everyone in your reach. A nibble of the scones will prevent you from lying. . . and, in addition, you will be brutally honest on whatever question you're asked. Maybe now is a bad time to give an opinion on your friend's outfit or new haircut, hm? And, finally, the Earl Grey tea will cause an enhancement of your Astoria given powers. Make sure you have that under control, or you may accidentally blow out a window, depending on what it is. YOU'RE LATE, YOU'RE LATE. The Unseen Servants will be a little, well, mad. Not that anyone will be able to see them, but there will seem to be things moving around the Temple at random, whether they be sheets, clothing, food, furniture, etc. with very little if any logical reason to it. It almost appears like the sheets and the like are moving throughout the air without any rhyme or reason to it . . . someone certainly isn't happy that the Temple is all astray. In addition, the Unseen Servants may also be attempting to steal things off of you. After all, you are also new to their world, and they want to make sure everything is put into their proper place, so beware any silent mischievous Unseen Servants dipping hands into pockets. Also . . . some of the rooms in the Temple are shifting around. Certain entryways could lead you to a select location at random. You may have thought you were entering your room, but it appears you’ve wound up in someone else’s. Or the bathhouse. Or the forest. Either way, you may find yourself lost for a bit...until the Temple decides to stop playing tricks on you. Keep track of your location, or you may wind up in the Forest of the Fey by mistake. OFF WITH YOUR HEAD. Should you approach the fighting ring, you’ll find that isn’t quite what you’d expect — there are no training dummies to be found, the rusted gates are colored a lavish gold, and the dirt ground has been replaced with a red and black checkered flooring. More notably, the ring itself seems to have expanded to make way for seating so that it’s become more of an arena than anything. There is an audience of spectators: many of them are typically known as the bestiary of this Temple. They are a bit more, er, refined and chatty today. When you enter, the gates will shut behind you. They will not budge. You have now entered a makeshift Royal Court. Suddenly, a playing card manifests in your hand. It might be… A Heart: A princess-like figure is displayed on this card. She appears to be singing. A Diamond: A gallant knight-like figure is displayed on this card. He appears to be fighting. A Queen: A refined queen-like figure is displayed on this card. She sits atop a throne, her finger pointed right at you. A King: A triumphant-king like figure is displayed on this card. He stands on a podium for all to see. A Joker: A jester-like figure is displayed on this card. He is dancing, laughing, and making a general fool of himself. On the back reads a message that states “This card withholds your role. You’ll be permitted to leave once we are thoroughly entertained. Best of luck!” No further instruction is given. Those who have entered with you are in the same predicament. How will you interpret your card? Who are you stuck with and how will you satisfy the audience? Or are you a member of the audience instead? Either way, good luck getting out — it’s up to you! 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! ♥

Comments

[dadandgone]

Hmm. That sounds familiar. My friend certainly insists on science over magic, although being here has made that a little harder to come down on. There's just certain things that have been going on that don't fit with what most of us understand to be science...so I guess that would make sense.

Sadly, whatever brings us here doesn't seem to care what our stance on the matter is or how normal our lives used to be.

As for my newfound talent, I can't say how it compares to works of fiction but I do have to either have a sense for the place I'm going or at least know someone who is there so I can kind of focus on them. I like to think of it like an anchor. If I can think of the person I can 'go' in there direction. Thankfully there haven't been any problems yet.

...

Though there was a close call when we were running from some angry robots. I couldn't concentrate so I just kept teleporting us in front of more of them instead of away from them.

[efficacy]

Yeah, that all sounds very familiar to me as well. Let's say I know a few science nerds who'd have a lot to say about the topic.

I'm starting to get that, too. Somehow I don't think there's anywhere to file a complaint to the management, either. Can't say I wouldn't be tempted to give someone a piece of my mind, for all the good it would do. It would make ME feel better, though. At least for a while.

That's all very interesting. Angry robots, though? I heard about the mermaids, but robots, too? This place just keeps getting better and better.

[dadandgone]

The closest we would have is Astoria, but even she doesn't seem to be completely in control of how things play out around here. Especially right now.

[After there most recent mission, Astoria had seemed a little...off. He doesn't know what's going on, but it's nothing short of troubling. No sense worrying anyone new about it just yet though, not unless they specifically ask. There's enough overwhelming information to deal with.]

I can only really offer the next best thing which would be a nice cup of tea and maybe someone to talk to about it. Trust me, we've all been there. Probably the one consolation is that we're all having to deal with this together.

As for the robots, to be fair, they thought they were keeping us safe...I think. Either way, none of us really wanted to deal with being locked up so we basically left. When we aren't here at the Temple we're being sent to any number of new worlds and destinations. Those are the only two places I've been, but there are a lot of people here who have been doing this longer and have visited other exotic locations.

We actually have a room that we've commandeered to store information about it, like an office or library of sorts, since these devices aren't exactly build for that kind of thing. If you're interested in getting caught up, that's where I would suggest going.

[efficacy]

Right. Astoria. Isn't she the one responsible for bringing us all here in the first place? If she's not in control, then who -- or what -- is, I have to wonder.

[ It's a good thing, maybe, that this is in text. Otherwise she might sound kind of... well, unimpressed. Or pissed, either or. She doesn't harbor particularly warm feelings towards the witch who brought herself, Tony and Steve Rogers here, no matter what her reasoning or plight. She's effectively keeping them all hostages here to do her bidding, which isn't sitting well with Pepper who is coming reasonably fresh from a kidnapping experience back home. ]

At any rate... I wouldn't say no to tea and talk. Even if I usually prefer coffee. These excursions onto different worlds, though-- how often do they happen, do you know? Just wondering when I should prepare to brace myself.

Oh, I'm very interested in getting caught up, you have no idea! Where could I find this room?

[dadandgone]

She says she isn't or at least doesn't have control over that, but I suppose you can take that for a grain of salt since we don't have evidence one way or the other. The best I can figure if it isn't her it might be this world or Temple itself. There is a lot of strange things that happen here because of the "magic".

[Maes can't blame her for that and he has a bit of a different perspective, given his own situation. Still, he has learned to take things with a grain of salt and it's hard to focus on the 'being kidnapped' part with all the other things that have gone on.]

Oh, we have coffee too. Well, we did. The last world we were working with was rough so I'm not sure if we've consumed all the coffee or not. I can look and see at any rate if that's what you'd prefer.

The "excursions" usually happen every few weeks or so, as best I can tell. It hasn't happened to me enough to establish a pattern, but based on what others have told me that seems to be the case.

And conveniently and honestly a bit strategically, we picked a room rather near the kitchens. If you can find the kitchen area, it's the room five doors down the left hall on the left.

[efficacy]

Incredibly convenient for her, I'd say. Aren't people more upset about the whole deal?

[ Yeah, she's pretty salty about it all... still. ]

Hope springs eternal, I guess. If this place is so magical, shouldn't there be a way to... well, magic some up? I can't be the only one hankering for a steady source of caffeine.

[ It's one thing to be kidnapped, but kidnapped with no coffee? Just kill her now. ]

I see. Excellent-- thank you very much. I'm sure I can find it.

[dadandgone]

Well sure. But we don't exactly have a hand to play against her...she's holding all the cards. Not sure we have enough information or power to move against her, even if we wanted to...

[He can't fault her and he knows he is probably coming across as trusting of Astoria. But honestly, he is more or less in her debt considering otherwise he'd be dead. It makes things complicated for sure.]

The servants have been acting oddly lately, but they probably have a way of restocking the kitchen if they'd just behave.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you. Just ask for Maes Hughes.