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acatalepsy_ooc2019-03-24 04:24 pm
acatamods) wrote in acatalepsy_ooc2019-03-24 04:24 pm
Entry tags:
TDM # 6
 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! ♥ |
Realization
It's not too difficult a task...if he could find some flowers first. Instead, he finds Steven. The boy seems rather lost and gets his attention pretty easily.]
Oh. Hi there. My name's Hunk. I'm not really from around here, [Technically none of them are, but considering Steven's follow up question, he has a feeling that isn't exactly what he means anyway.] but I've been here for a few months...on and off. I guess that qualifies me to try and answer your questions, sure.
no subject
Are we... really supposed to be saving the universe?
[Let's start there. It will probably help him figure out how he feels about the rest of it.]
no subject
That's...well that's what Astoria said she wanted us to do. I'm still not 100% sure on the 'how' we 're supposed to do that. So far when she's sent us somewhere we've just tried to help the local population anyway we can.
[He's not sure if he should also tell him that so far his own experience with the process hasn't been so great. They completely failed their mission to Akvos and the recent mission, well, it hadn't gone down so well. He wouldn't wish that place on anyone and it certainly hadn't felt like they'd helped save the universe then.]
And we're doing our best...with what we're given anyway.
no subject
Are you... okay with that?
[The rest of his response seems candid enough. Maybe he can just get to the point.]
It sounds like a lot to deal with.
no subject
Well, yeah. I mean, I think I was technically helping save the universe when I was outside of the Circle. That was more fighting an evil empire in space with my friends though and not...well, each place we go to seems to have a different problem to address.
[He shrugs. He's not sure he's really explaining it properly.]
The visiting new places and helping others isn't so bad. That stuff isn't even all that different from what I was doing before.
It's...[He hesitates, trying to consider how to put this into words.] not feeling like you're equipped well enough. When my friends and I were brought here, we were forced to leave some powerful tools behind that could have done some real good...especially in the world we just left. But for whatever reason we don't have access to those things here.
[He smiles slightly.]
Don't get me wrong though, I do kind of enjoy having a cool ability like healing people. That's definitely come in handy.
no subject
[It's not immediately clear what he's excited about, but something that Hunk said just got him super pumped. He bounces on his heels, eyes glittering.]
I also fought an evil space empire with my friends and can heal people! [Though he has to hesitate there. He looks at his hand dismally.] Or, at least... I could...
[If he can't anymore that's a real bummer. He hates losing his healing powers.]
no subject
Man, that's crazy. It's...I mean I'd have to sit down to figure out the numbers, but I feel like the odds of that are pretty small.
[He briefly wonders if Steven has some kind of lion too, but that seems like it would be pushing it. What kind of kid would have a lion? Then again, what kind of kid has adventures in space fighting an evil space empire.]
Yeah, the healing part is unique to this place, I couldn't do that in my own universe...dimension. Maybe you can give me some pointers sometimes...though I guess it isn't that complicated, I just have to touch someone and they'll feel better.
[Hunk tilts his head.]
So what was the evil empire you were fighting like? They weren't purple and enslaving the galaxy were they?
no subject
[He's just going to sail right past that with no explanation, you're welcome.]
I guess they were never really evil? Just kind of... ignorant. They're called the Diamond Authority, and they're the ones in control of all gemkind. My mom was one of them, until she decided to fight back.
They were trying to destroy Earth for a long time, but we finally managed to get through to them a little while ago. There's a lot of stuff that needs to be fixed, but... I think they're actually going to listen now. [Steven's expression becomes reflective with a certain kind of helpless longing. It's really obvious he wants to be back home.]
I just hope... that nothing will change that.
no subject
[Although, theoretically, if his powers were about contact, then spit should also work. Of course, this was him trying to apply science and logic to a magical power and he'd seen how far that had gotten him in the past.]
Oh. So you're part...gem? [Did he get that right?] I have a friend who is part Galra. [Wait, he hadn't mentioned who the Galra were yet. Hunk quickly adds.] That's the name of the race that was trying to conquer the universe, the Galra. There are a few nice ones though who we've worked with in the past. So, I guess you could argue that a lot of them are just misguided too, probably because of the guy who's been ruling them for over thousands of years.
[Hearing Steven's story is a little reassuring in a way. Maybe if they keep at this whole Voltron thing they can turn it around as well.]
I hope we can do the same. They haven't managed to get to Earth...but there are still a lot of planets out there that have been conquered by them and need help.
[And now it sounds a little bit like Steven needs to be reassured, Hunk looks at him with sympathy.]
It's hard not to worry about that stuff, huh? Especially after how far you've come. [He puts a reassuring hand on Steven's shoulder.] Don't worry, you said you had friends that were helping you, right? I bet they can help make sure things stay on course. We have to support each other.
no subject
[He laughs softly, trying to appreciate Hunk's reassurance. It seems like they are in pretty similar situations, all told. Maybe minus the part about being kinda space royalty.]
Thanks. Being two different things is kind of crazy sometimes, but at least it gives you kind of a unique perspective on things! Is it like that for your friend, too?
no subject
[There's a pause, Hunk recalling one of the first adventures he'd gone on with Keith after he'd learned his heritage, and then he adds.]
I think it helped him get a better sense of humor too. Keith wasn't so serious after he had a better understanding of who he was I think.
[He smiles.] I'll have to introduce you to him sometime.