TDM # 6

[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 #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! ♥

Comments

B

[rougerebelle]

[The pancakes had definitely looked too good for words. She wasn't sure why they were selling pancakes at a festival, but whoever (or whatever) was running the stall seemed pretty eager for her to have it.

She's just about to take a bite when she feels someone staring at her. Carmen glances around at just about the time Lift decides to move to take it. Carmen nimbly dodges out of the way, barely missing a beat before taking a bite.]

Hey! There's plenty of pancakes at that stall. There's no need to try and swipe mine, now.

[pureawesome]

[Whoops. Either she's so hungry for pancakes she did a stupid mistake, or this woman's really good and Lift has bitten more than she can chew.

Bite, chew. MAN that pancake looks good.]

Yeah there is, [She replies after a moment, leveling a shameless gaze at Carmen.] Starvin' ghosts won't let me have one.

[rougerebelle]

[Carmen raises and eyebrow, glancing in the direction of the pancake stall. Of course, it's impossible to tell if the invisible attendant is looking back. Carmen shakes her head. Disappointing, they'd seemed so nice. Who denies a kid a pancake?]

Really? That's not very nice of them. [Carmen looks down at her own pancake and then back to the girl. Why would she try stealing it though since the food was being given away for mere trinkets.] Did you try following the deal they have posted? It said something about giving a stranger a smile or a flower or performing a trick.

[pureawesome]

Yeah? [Lift looks at the sign for a moment before losing interest and turning back to Carmen.] Too bad I can't read.

[She doesn't sound like she minds, at all. Instead she considers what to do. Can't do a "trick", not with Wyndle asleep - or whatever he's doing right now instead of being by her side.]

How's this?

[Lift gives Carmen a wide grin, sticks her tongue out and crosses her eyes.]

[rougerebelle]

Oh, sorry. Guess I didn't think about that...

[That would certainly explain why she'd resorted to stealing. Carmen would have to work on making assumptions around here, but at least she could provide the girl with information about how to obtain the pancakes without taking hers.

Though she was still kind of impressed by that effort. She can't help but chuckle a little at the face Lift makes. She nods.]

It works for me, I'm just not sure if that'll cut it for them.

[She winks, starting to move towards the place with the pancakes.

One way to find out though. [When she reaches it, she casts her gaze around. It's really hard to tell where these invisible guys are.] Excuse me, can she get a pancake now?

[pureawesome]

[The invisible servants seem to deliberate (well, the hovering plates lean closer to one another, at least), before handing Life another pancake. She snatches it before the ghosts change their mind and chows down. The filling is rich and warm, both sweet and savory with little bits of something and so, so good.

It's the best of all Yeddaw's pancakes - no wonder it was only meant for their god. If Lift was a god, she want to eat them all too.]

Thank 'oo, [She says with a mouth full of pancakes, then tilts her head toward Carmed for emphasis.] You, not them. It's bad form, asking for smiles and flowers in exchange for food. You should smile and give presents cuz you wanna, otherwise it's just taxes.

[rougerebelle]

That's more like it. Thanks.

[She says it even as Lift is scarfing it down. No sense making them angrier by being rude. Carmen would prefer not to make enemies so fast. She'd had some for so long it was kind of nice NOT to have to worry about it for once.

Problem now solved, she turned back to her newest companion.]

No big deal, though next time if you're going to try to take them I'd wait until the person is a little more distracted or switch it with something else.

[She considers the girl's statement and nods.] True. It seems to be a bit arbitrary on how they enforce it as well.

[pureawesome]

[Lift shrugs. Honestly, she doesn't care why they held out on certain food and not the others. She just knows it's annoying and makes her even more determined to steal.]

Ha! Switching it could be fun. [Especially if the ghosts are rude to other people. Lift can swipe their food and leave something they couldn't otherwise that - it can barely called stealing, really.] Gotta try it when I'm done with the pancakes. This can be my "trick".

[rougerebelle]

Hmm. It can be entertaining and it's usually fairly harmless.

[At least in this case, less so when you're using bait and switch to, I don't know, steal important codes on a drive in replacement for a tool kit. Perhaps she shouldn't be encouraging this...but it seems a bit late to back out now.]

I don't know if that's what they meant by trick exactly. But the only way to find out is to try it I think.