acatalepsy_ooc | TDM # 6

Entry tags:

TDM # 6

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 #6

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 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.

. . . or maybe you are. It seems oddly like a state fair, except a bit more mystical, and a bit more . . . well, touched by faerie-magic..

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.

Once you're done with that, though, get ready -- there's a carnival in town.

FEAST FOR THE PEOPLE.

An array of familiar scents welcomes you — it reminds you so terribly of your roots. Perhaps it’s the clam chowder your grandmother used to make, or the distinct smell of your least favorite kind of enchanted crabapple pie traveling through the air.

Regardless, it leads you to a variety of food stands, each and everyone being manned by one of the unseen servants.And lo and behold, you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for: food from the very place you’ve come from. The plates and portions are . . . er, floating in air due to how unseen the servants are, but when you reach forward to have a bite, you are promptly stopped. It seems as though the servants are asking for something in exchange.

A sign floats up before you…

“The food is free ♥ But first, find someone and show them…
Your best smile!
A flower! Spring is abound ♥
A neat trick using the power I gave you~”

You’d best get on it — of course, you could try to simply steal if you’re hungry enough, but well...we’ll see how well that goes over.

Ironically enough, the foods you may not be especially partial to will be offered to you without any trouble. Huh.

TEN TICKETS GETS A PENCIL.

There are a large variety of other stalls too. While the food definitely follows you wherever you go, there are small booths set up with games. Anything from a ring toss, target practice, games of strength or games of balance have been constructed and set up all around this patch of grass. You might notice a game from home, no matter how specific or seemingly out of place it appears to be in this festival. You’re here to have fun! And maybe the person standing next to you does too. Will you challenge them? Or let them go ahead?

Besides, don’t you want those prizes? There is a wide selection of "stuffed animals" made out of grass and flowers to be won, but it all comes down to you. These prizes won't wilt or die, either! How lovely. Additionally, some of the booths give you out some arbitrary amount of tickets, regardless of how well you do. If you win, you seem to get . . . less tickets? But if you lose, you get the lot.

Astoria doesn't seem to really get the point of carnival games.

There is a booth to turn in said tickets, though! Ten tickets will get you a bright pink pencil. Fifty tickets will get you a kazoo that makes you irresistibly happy for thirty minutes at a time. A hundred tickets will get you a massive stuffed puppy made out of flowers. And two hundred tickets will get you a tiara made out of flowers. . . . these gifts seem to be Astoria-centric, but you'll surely like them, right?

LOVE IS IN THE AIR.

What is a festival without some carnival rides? They’re scattered around the faire grounds at random intervals, and seem familiar enough, if not for the fact they seem to be held together primarily through magic.

The ferris wheel is made entirely from giant leaves and vines, but is still running, and absolutely safe. You might want to jump on it to see the entirety of the Temple . . . in the (near-ish) distance, you can see Lake Dona, stretching on for what appears to be miles. You can see the Forest of the Fey, equally massive and sprawling . . . and neither seems to have an end in sight. But hey, at least you got a free carnival ride.

Bumper cars? More like bumper logs, floating in a small lake of sorts that (for those who have been in the Circle for some time) definitely wasn’t there before. Crashing into one another is a load of fun, but if you get up-ended, you might wind up being shoved back into the logs unceremoniously by some kelpies. Where in the heck did they come from? (They're harmless, for the most part. Astoria seems to have recruited the more tame ones.)

And, even better, the unseen servants are keen to get new people to know one another! Are you in line with someone you know? Or next to a complete stranger? Either way, you’ll get shuffled into the next cart and put on your way. The Tunnel of Roses is a great place to meet someone, right? It's seemingly sprung up out of absolutely nowhere . . . a dark, quiet, romantic ride on a tiny little boat, just big enough for two! You’ve got some...time to break the ice. The ride apparently lasts four hours.

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

N-- nope. Nope. No problems here, dream girl! I mean-- girl that's in my dreams.

[ This is definitely a dream. It's a dream and his subconscious is making him remember one of the worst days of his entire life. What the fuck, brain? This isn't cool. He just wants to go off to the dream-carnival and try to enjoy the dream-games and dream-rides.

He'd like a return on his stupid idiot brain. ]

Uhhh. So. Weird dream, right?

[ Angels brow furrows at that ascertain. ]

Your dream.

[ That's an...interesting turn for her subconscious to take. ]

I hate to be the barer of bad news, but I'm fairly certain it's my dream we're currently in, sorry. I'm sure there are benefits to being a figment of my imagination, though.

What? No, definitely not.

[ He raises his eyebrows and puts his hands on his hips. ]

This is-- this is definitely my dream. Fell asleep in the office or something. Meetings, am I right?

[ Okay, this is new and already she's tired of it. The waking world is bad enough as it is, what with Jacks plan to attack Sanctuary coming into fruition...all thanks to her. She shakes her head, urging those thoughts away. There will be more than enough time to dwell, an infinite amount.

She sighs ]

Please, let's not argue.

[ She makes a move to stand, her legs still feeling as though they're filled with sand, unused for so long ]

Let us say, for the sake of getting along, that this is your dream. Where are we?

[ Aaaand nope, standing is not happening. As she makes an attempt to push herself upwards, the strength in her legs give and she promptly lands back on the ground. ]

[ Rhys opens his mouth to argue, but.... he cuts himself off when he sees her try and fail to stand. It occurs to him he knows nothing about her, just that she's Jack's daughter. Seeing her puts a lump in his throat; why is it her he's dreaming of?

That's... my Angel. Don't usually like people knowin' about her, but... you and me are pretty tight.

There's something sour tinging the fringes of the memory of his words. ]

Uhhh. [ Right. ] ... It's-- It's a carnival?

You don't recognize it?

[ Kind of a pointless question, why would he? She doesn't know this place either. It's certainly not Pandora with how civilized and clean everything seems to be.

Again, she struggles to stand, she'd like to enjoy this dream for what it is. Weird companion aside, the atmosphere here is nice, peaceful almost. She doesn't know when- if ever, she'll get something like this again. ]

Not... really?

[ He huffs out a little noise, but it's not directed at her. ]

I mean, we don't have stuff like this on Pandora, and uh-- there's like. No one pointlessly murdering anyone, so......

[ Steady...steady...she manages to get onto both her feet, though she still can't stand at full height without risking falling over, let alone taking a step. She looks over to him, blinking owlishly as she observes him. ]

You're...Pandoran? That's strange, why would I imagine you looking- I mean- You certainly don't look like a local.

[ And she drops down again, her own weight, little of it that there is, exhausting her. Tired within a dream, that sucks. ]

I'm not, I just--

[ ... man... ]

Are you... I mean... maybe you shouldn't push yourself if you're having trouble? [ Then again this is a dream, so does it matter?? ] Because you look like you're gonna just fall over at any moment.

[ It really does seem like a cruel joke, that even in her dreams she can't participate in the world around her directly and at her own will. She brings herself up to one knee again before looking his way.

Far be it from her to ask for most things, but her subconscious needs to get with the program. ]

I would appreciate some help, if that's possible.

Yeah-- yeah, no problem. Totally.

[ Right. He goes over to her and hesitates for a moment before he holds out his hands--awkwardly--for her to take. ]

Just... just grab on, and I'll steady you.

[ Is it obvious how nervous he is? Because he's really nervous; this is... Jack's daughter, after all. At least he doesn't have Jack squawking in his head anymore. Small mercies. ]

[ She hesitates a moment before putting her hand in his, but it isn't there for more than a second before she's retracting it back, like it's been burned.

She shakes out her hand, confused, and tries again. This time holding on as she lifts herself, trying to concentrate on balance but concerned with what she's feeling.

She rarely dreams so directly of people, and when she does direct contact tends to be violent. But even then, it's amorphous...she can't really feel it. This is like a static shock, the presence of another human in a way that feels so real ]

Wait, something's wrong.

[ She lets go with one hand, and with the other pinches her arm. Hard. ]

[ He's actually worried when she pulls back so abruptly. Rhys frowns, but he keeps his hands out. Confusion or not, he doesn't want her to hurt herself. Uh. Her dream self.

Whatever. He's definitely not second-guessing his dream theory. Definitely not. ]

Are you-- [ He chuckles, a little nervously. ] There are, like, a thousand things that are wrong here.

Not-- not with you, though?

[ --Ow!

Yep that pinch definitely hurt. She looks at her surroundings, everything still present, not melting away like it usually would as she woke up.

Letting go completely of Rhys, she takes a few wobbly steps forward to get a better idea of where she is. Each step feels solid, the light of the sky so bright and vibrant. She doesn't want this to be a dream, but the prospect of it being real is near overwhelming. ]

I'm alright, just...questioning reality. That's all. Because that's what I'm begging to believe this may be.

Hey--

[ It... it'd make sense. When she'd held on, she'd been solid. More solid than anything in a dream has any right to be. He's still totally weirded out by everything, but. They can't be here forever, right? He has things to do.

--back up, focus on the now. Rhys stays close, just in case she collapses again. ]

... you really think so, huh?

Well, pinching usually works.

[ She breathes in deeply. It smells so real too, there's no way even she could imagine something like this, she'd forgotten what anything beyond recycled, sterile air smelt like. ]

I really don't want it to be. But if it is real....

[ Maybe something went wrong, with charging the vault key. Jack really didn't know what he was messing with, and the ability to trasnport someone as connected to it as she was through space and time certainly wasn't implausible. ]

What's the last thing you remember, um-

[ Since she thought he wasn't a real person, she hadn't bothered with introductions, pretty rude.

She turns back to look at him properly for the first time, her eye immediately catching on the company name stitched onto his vest. ]

Oh. You are Hyperion.

[ Oh.

He'd forgotten about the name on his vest. God, he should really get a new outfit, because one: it doesn't match his new arm; two: Hyperion and anything related to it just brings up bad, bad memories.

Rhys finds himself unable to look her in the eyes, for some reason. ]

Yyyyyes. Or, uh-- I was.

[ He's so uncomfortable now. He shifts, runs a hand through his hair. ]

... Rhys. My name is-- I'm Rhys.

[ She makes an incredulous noise at that. ]

--Sorry.

You left.

[ Not even a question. No one leaves Hyperion in anything other than a body bag or out an airlock. ]

That's impossible, you're alive.

[ Rhys laughs nervously, and. Yeah. Definitely can't look at her. ]

Hyperion is kinda, uh. Not really... It's kind of...

Gone. Now.

[ Uh. What? She...couldn't have heard that right. ]

Pardon me, but could you elaborate on that?

[ Oh no. ]

Are you-- are you sure you wanna know? Don't you want to, I don't know, keep-- keep the mystery alive?

If this is a dream, what you say won't matter in the end anyways.

[ Though she's more confused about her state of consciousness than ever. If this guy- this Rhys is speaking literally...Well. That can't be right. ]

[ Ah, man, why does he have to be the one to do this? Rhys pinches the bridge of his nose, then... ]

I mean... if you're, you know, Pandoran, you know that Jack is-- he's been dead. For a while. Vault Hunters, am I right?

Annnnnd then Helios crashed into the ground. It was... [ His shoulders slump a little. He still remembers the heat from the flames, the pounding in his head... how he'd mutilated himself, because Jack couldn't go on existing in any way. There's a distinct discomfort to him, practically permeating the air.

And he still won't look at her. ]

It was a pretty bad time.

[ Oh. There's her balance giving way. She doesn't fall, but she does sink back down to the ground to sit.

What he's saying, it like her deepest wishes manifest. Especially after the last couple of days, with what Jack had her do to Sanctuary. It was a wake up call, and suddenly she could see all the wrong he'd ever done. To her, to Pandora. Death would be a kindess compared to what he deserved, but he was so protected from it.

Helios falling (literally?!) without him she could believe, getting rid of him is what seemed impossible. ]

What-

What is the last thing you can remember? Because before I woke in this place, Helios was still circling Pandora, and Jack was very much alive.

[ It's her reaction that strikes him. Jack, she calls him. Not Dad or anything. And she doesn't seem horrified that her father is dead--or at the idea of it. There's a sinking feeling that Rhys can't shake.

It's been a long time since I've dreamed of outside.

Jack had told him his daughter had betrayed him.

What did Jack do to her? ]

I..... listen, are you sure you want to-- You still seem really unsteady.

[ Deflect, deflect, and maybe he'll be able to just ignore how uncomfortable he is by this whole situation. ]

TDM # 6

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)