acatalepsy_ooc | TDM # 6

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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

There are plenty of non-humans in the universe, you know. You may find yourself dining with species without mouths, some day.

[ you never know!! but at ikaruga's question, astoria pauses before picking up a napkin, running her fingers along the edge. ]

I feel them . . . all of the worlds in the universe are connected to me, and I feel the darkness, through my connection. I feel their tipping points, and their needs. I feel them crying out for help.

I have met and befriended some non-humans before, albeit all had mouths. Should I meet a species like that, there's no harm in asking someone to guide me through the appropriate table etiquette in their culture.

[Such a weird line of conversation, but considering what Astoria says afterward, she supposes she can see what prompted it.]

How much information do you have about these worlds when you send us in? Knowing more about what we were facing ahead of time would have been helpful.

[It's not said angrily, so much as logically. It's become apparent in just this short conversation that Astoria has an incomplete understanding of the needs of the beings she's recruited to help her.]

[ it's not the first time she's been asked, and she hesitates before continuing. ]

I know the name of the world, generally. I can feel what darkness pervades it . . . but finer details are lost, in transit. It is a very intuitive feeling, my connection with the worlds, and the universe. Sometimes I can pick out details, if I focus, but it is hard to do so, being trapped here.

Understood.

[As much as she possibly can comprehend something on that scale. At least growing up as a magic user gives her a better grasp of how one can know something but struggle with explaining it in a quantifiable way.]

Would you be so kind as to give us a little warning before you send us off to another world in the future? An hour or two would be sufficient. If we prepared survival kits with food and other supplies from here, then we would have time to collect them before you sent us.

[She doesn't know if Astoria is capable of giving them that warning, but she might as well suggest it and point out the merits. It seems more productive than just yelling at her.]

You will be going, soon. In a matter of weeks.

[ the warning is what ikaruga asked for, isn't it? ]

I can only send you when the pathways allow me to do so . . . so I cannot give an exact time, but you should prepare now, if you truly want to bring something with you. It must be on your person, when you go.

Keep your bags close?

[That's a fairly unhelpful timeline, but the explanation does clarify something relevant she'd been wondering about. Astoria does not have the ability to choose exactly when to send them. That makes less annoyed at the way Astoria operates.

So she moves onward to a more practical concern.]

If you are able to make things like all of this...does that mean you could make weapons such as swords and knives for everyone? I had offered self-defense lessons to a couple of the Circle members. It would be nice if they had weapons so that I could properly instruct them.

There are some weapons available in the fighting ring! Swords, bows . . . they aren't the best and brightest, but they are there for practice, if you need them. And they could certainly be sharpened; they are yours, for the taking.

[ and mysteriously, they seem to always be replaced at the end of the night. ]

Oh, that's quite helpful. Thank you.

[She'll stick to her own sword, but that will do just fine for instructing beginners.]

Perchance, is there any wine around here? Or some variety of liquor?

[She hasn't noticed any. Her search efforts have been quite brief, though. She hadn't truly craved a drink until after dealing wtih the Horologium.]

TDM # 6

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( 6 ) sorry for the delay! the app around ate me.

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