acatamods: (Default)
acatamods. ([personal profile] acatamods) wrote in [community profile] acatalepsy_ooc2018-06-19 11:13 pm
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test drive # 2







test drive meme #2
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.

All you hear is a voice -- light, bubbly, warm, soothing, in your ear:

Don't worry, darling. This won't hurt a bit~ ♥

For those who recognize the voice, it will sound a bit strained. Possibly tired. But the moment happens so quickly it's hard to pin down, and once that moment is over, you fall flat on your face. It's dim, damp, with the trickling of what feels like rain. It takes a few moments for you to gain composure, to catch your breath. You think, for half a moment, that a hand is on your back, rubbing between your shoulder blades in comfort, but when you open your eyes, no one is there. 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.

And, of course, because this is just your luck.

It's raining.



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.

For some, this place is home. For others, this strange land is new and dark, like a haze has settled in the air. The creatures in the forest seem to be stirring, and every now and then the sky will open up, and a storm will pass through, in varying degrees of intensity. Some will be easy spring showers, others will be angry, thunderous storms.

Not exactly the most welcoming place, but it's a start.

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. The rain makes everything feel a bit softer, but also eerie, like there is a secret being kept just on the outside of your vision.

Of course, this means you have free reign. This place seems easy enough to figure out on your own, with enough time to take a walk around! However- members who recognize this place may notice the lack of a certain figure, the grounds feeling a bit more empty, more abandoned, than they did before.



IT'S A FIELD OF . . . POPPIES?
The buildings of the Temple of Beginnings span out across a fair-sized field, intermixed with trees, open grassy planes, outside sitting areas, fire rings, and other oddly ancient but somehow structures. With the mist and the rain, everything feels a bit more ethereal, like there is life to every inch of what you see before you. Or like you've stumbled into some kind of alternate world. Around the temple is a ring of stones that do not seem to move no matter what characters may attempt, and beyond that is the forest.

The forest itself is more than just impressive - it is near-overwhelming. An impossibly ancient stretch of woods that crackle with magical energy. Within, there is all matter of fauna and flora, darting from tree trunk to tree trunk. The canopy is thick enough to shield from the worst of the rain, but still the water gets through, dripping down through the leaves and dampening the ground under your feet. While there is always a sense of wonder - and possible danger - in every stretch of this forest, nothing will come any closer than a brief glimpse out of the corner of your eyes.

No matter how you try, you can't quite seem to catch a full glimpse of what is moving about. Some of the creatures seem small, flittering through the air, while others dart through the trees, larger, more imposing. Everything here seems to be looking for some kind of shelter, so be wary of stumbling across something already taken.

There is a particular clearing not too far into the woods that opens up, a field encircled by trees. In the middle of the field there is an odd glow - luminescent even in the darkened sky. Upon investigation, you will find a bush - about the size of a small car - filled with glowing flowers, white, blue, gold, and purple. They all smell faintly sweet, but it's hard to tell with the scent of earth and rain all around you.

if you decide to pick one of these flowers, there will be no immediate recourse. However, the longer you decide to keep the flower on your person - or if, for whatever reason, you decide to eat said flower - the following will start to set in.
White: For whatever reason, you will have more energy than you know what to do with, and will be filled with the urge to shine. Ever needed a confidence booster? To a point that you need to get up on buildings and belt your favorite song at the top of your lungs? Well, now you do.
Blue: After some time of carrying around this flower, you will start to feel at peace. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, is it? Until that feeling of peace continues to grow, and continues, and continues. Soon you will feel so peaceful, it's almost as if nothing matters at all. I mean...it'll work out in the end, won't it? You're no longer missing home, missing people, worried about what happened and what you might fine. Everything is chill. Beyond chill. The most chill. But maybe out in the middle of the forest isn't the best place for a nap?
Gold: Congrats, you've officially become a hoarder! No, seriously, you will have this uncontrollable urge to grab things and collect them. It doesn't matter what they are, or where they are. You need to have them and you will find a way to make it happen. Hats? Rings? People with green hair? The world is your oyster, and that's the key word here - yours.
Purple: Suddenly, and without warning, you find yourself unable to...well. Go on alone, really. The first person you see, or that you come in contact with, will feel much like the savior of your world, and for the next five hours or so, you will be unable to be far from them. Even if you know the fear is irrational, you can't really help it, following friend or stranger alike, always needing to be just in arms reach.
Regarding further exploration of the wood, it will seem to go on forever. Getting lost seems almost imperative to existence within this forest, going on forever in all directions with no edge in sight. You could walk for days, weeks, possibly even more. However, the second that you find yourself thinking about wanting to return to the buildings from before, you find yourself cresting through the edge of the trees, back to your home.



RUN BY THE RIVER
While inside the buildings and in the main open spaces, the water doesn't seem to be building up all too terribly, un an unfortunate turn of events, it all seems to be rolling down a very slight hill, pulling just on the outside of the ring of stones.

The ground here is unstable, wet and muddy from the amount of moisture falling from the skies. So much that in some areas (the fighting area being one), it will start to collect into a dangerous combination of mud and moving water. It's possible to get stuck in it, possible to get lost in the flooding, but it's also possible to...you know. Have some fun?

Mud slides, mud wrestling, mud...castles? Whatever you want it to be, it's at your disposal! While the arena was originally a place to practice your powers, or any of the various weapons that are usually kept here, now you can do the same with a little added obstacle in your path. That, or it's possible you simply got stuck trying to make it back to your room. Hopefully someone will be by to help you!


CONNECTIONS AND COMMENTARY
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! ♥
winn: (75)

[personal profile] winn 2018-07-01 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he wipes his face, and then decides to just wrap it around himself for warmth. he nods. ]

That sounds good. Can we start with the questions though cuz I'm up to at least 372 - 73? Round it up to be safe, answers are definitely going to lead to some more. And tea. Tea would be good. If your tea is what I think tea is - it's a hot beverage made of leafs, right? With a ton of sugar in it? Those weren't part of the original question list, see, it's just gonna keep getting worse the more we put it off.
hackedhistory: (21)

[personal profile] hackedhistory 2018-07-01 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
My superpowers come from an ancient mystical totem. And right now, instead of doing what it's supposed to do, it's functioning as a ridiculously ornate piece of jewelry.

[There's a beat.]

Unless you meant the multiple worlds thing, because that's a much longer explanation.
hyperverbose: (ʙɪɢ ᴇxᴘʟᴏsɪᴏɴs ᴄʀᴀᴄᴋ)

[personal profile] hyperverbose 2018-07-01 10:33 pm (UTC)(link)
That too. Apparently I'm not going anywhere.
foundanewdream: (grin ☀ You have shattered)

sorry for the delay! i've had a week

[personal profile] foundanewdream 2018-07-01 11:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[Viewing the rain from a tower window was nothing compared to being in the middle of it! Not to mention it didn't really rain on her journey, so no time to have experienced it there. (After all, being in a flooding cave was much more different.)

Rapunzel laughs a little, part of her trying to imagine her new companion as a flower. Or herself even.]


I imagine they'd be dancing up a storm of their own in this weather, if they could move as we do.

[She pushes up part of her bang that fell in front of her eye as it grew heavy with water.] Safer?

[Sure, the thunder is loud and the lightning is bright, but there's no harm, is there?]
foundanewdream: (ponder ☀ For the mailbox)

sorry for the delay! i've had a week

[personal profile] foundanewdream 2018-07-01 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[Rapunzel grins right on back, shoving a bit of her bang out from in front of her face where it had fallen.]

"Since the last time?" You don't stay in this area then? [It seemed like everyone had made homes out of the areas she'd passed through earlier.]
hackedhistory: (25)

[personal profile] hackedhistory 2018-07-01 11:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[Deep breath because she's gotta explain this right.]

Okay, so this is usually told to me in terms of different Earths, but this is definitely not Earth, so I'm not sure if all the rules apply but basically there are a bunch of different Earths full of what if scenarios of what could have been. What if the Nazis won World War II, what if the Vikings never left America and actually settled here, all that kind of stuff. They all occupy the same space, but vibrate at a different frequency so they don't bump into each other.

[That's part one.]

If you can move fast enough or pick up the right frequency, sometimes you can open a breach between those words, and bounce from one to the other. I worked with an organization called Hathaway and they had this rift technology that they used, but I think that was more going to different planets on the same timeline, but most of their staff were not natives to the universe.
runicking: <user name=celeschere site=tumblr.com> ([oo3] ᴡɪʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴏ)

[personal profile] runicking 2018-07-02 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
[ Bless you, Shiro, you are a lifesaver. She still sounds a little soft (muffled?), but that's probably because she isn't actively speaking into the device. It doesn't immediately occur to her. ]

You have things like this where you're from?

[ There is a note of awe in her voice. Celes pauses. ]

Assuming you aren't from here, of course.
unpatriarchal: (001.)

[personal profile] unpatriarchal 2018-07-02 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
You haven't given me any indication on which side you're on, and forgive me, but it is standard to make assumptions when you first meet someone, regardless of whether or not said assumptions are correct.

[ mildly enough. ]

So you saved said city?
runicking: <user name=celeschere site=tumblr.com> (pic#12048967)

[personal profile] runicking 2018-07-02 12:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ She lets him pull her up to her feet, blinking slowly a few times as he sing-songingly hums at her. Um, what?

Oh, right, he's asking a question. ]


I'm... I'm not sure, I don't remember.

[ Should she be panicking a little? She should probably panicking a little. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ]

I remember wanting to go somewhere to clear my head. I found this clearing, and thought it might be nice to take a nap here.

[ Yes. In the rain. ]
Edited 2018-07-02 00:11 (UTC)
oculusriffs: catrente @ tumblr (i only bother with high quality blades)

[personal profile] oculusriffs 2018-07-02 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
["slapped together using a video game's bizarre crafting mechanics" is probably more accurate than "forged," yeah.]

It'll freeze anything you cut, too. Definitely best used as a way to end a fight you don't really feel like having.

[so, ultimately, it's about as useful as it is silly looking.]
runicking: <user name=opera_floozy> ([oo1] ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ sᴜɴ ʀᴜɴs ᴏᴜᴛ)

[personal profile] runicking 2018-07-02 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
[ Truth hurts, Firo. And that seems like an important detail to gloss over, but she probably would too, let's not kid ourselves here.

Pursing her lips, the ex-general crosses her arms over her chest. Other business to take care of, that's an understatement. ]


So we're being held here against our wills.

[ A bit of a logical leap, but not necessarily wrong. ]
foundafamily: (14.1)

[personal profile] foundafamily 2018-07-02 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
[Mumbling to himself:] There's a movie..?

[It's a bit after his time.

He shrugs and uncautiously breaks off a golden flower to give it a closer look, then holds it out to Steve.]


Seems fine to me--but I guess it makes sense to be careful when there's a witch around here.
valuedstrength: (pic#)

[personal profile] valuedstrength 2018-07-02 12:50 am (UTC)(link)
[Steve reluctantly takes it, nodding in response.] We already know she's a kidnapper. The fact she's a witch wouldn't be a mark against her if she didn't go around doing that.
bowtiedbones: (40)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-07-02 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
I guess. We diverted a coup and a civil war, so instead of the King being overthrown by some general tyrant 2.0 the King is keeping his position along with greater influence and involvement by the public in government. The King is the one with the magic that summons water, so.
Edited 2018-07-02 00:54 (UTC)
foundafamily: (14.1)

[personal profile] foundafamily 2018-07-02 12:57 am (UTC)(link)
[Firo nods almost appreciatively--hey, he's always glad to meet someone who's not going to pussyfoot around the facts.]

Exactly. So we can visit other worlds, but it didn't sound like we're gonna find our way back to ours any time soon. I don't think the odds of the next place we visit being somebody's home are anything worth betting on--and even then we'd just get yanked back here in a few weeks.
theseuschip: (RELIVE2 ([j="!{Y=1 fHZ)

[personal profile] theseuschip 2018-07-02 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ When he hears a familiar human voice (a human voice at all, really) over the rain, Simon freezes and the light flicks back on. And then he starts moving toward the voice, nervous but simultaneously conscious of the fact that he might be about to make somebody else more freaked out than he is right now.

He takes cautious steps toward the voice, in a forward lean as if he were actually holding a flashlight instead of just having one where his forehead should be, and calls out to it. ]
My name’s Simon... I’m a little lost—

[ a ‘Also don’t freak out, I look really weird’ would be a good addition here, but. ]
runicking: <user name=celesjessa> (pic#12048986)

I'm not quiiiiite there yet, but getting close :o

[personal profile] runicking 2018-07-02 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ Loneliness isn't a stranger to Celes. Cid was gone, and the only hope that kept her afloat was believing beyond belief that Locke and the others had managed to survive. She had let herself get lost to that silent solitude, gave in to it and somehow lived to tell the tale, and she would not leave someone who so desperately needed something or someone at her side on her own. Even if it probably shouldn't be her comforting this woman; she's terrible at this sort of thing.

But Celes has lived that hell, and it damn near killed her. She won't see it do the same thing to someone else.

Slowly closing the space between them, her smile still feels a little unnatural. Like something drawn on by someone who isn't quite sure how to yet, but is trying so desperately to understand and reach out. ]


It's all right.

[ That came out a little more terse than the last time. Let's try this again. ]

We've all been through a lot. [ Understatement of the century, but let her finish. ] Being brought here without warning, separated from what is important, reacting the way you have is understandable. It's all right.

[ Celes pauses for a moment, stopping just short of Allura. Slowly, she offers out a hand, nodding her head simply. ]

My name is Celes.
abandonware: ([ 07. ])

[personal profile] abandonware 2018-07-02 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
[She doesn't intend on giving him the time to recover. In a machine fight, A2 occasionally gleans pleasure, shallow and brief, from mocking her opponents, but this is no machine battle. It would be a shame to die before she even figured out where the hell they are.

When he stumbles, she uses that hair's breadth of an instead to rush forward, ignoring the way she seems slower, to rush him with her shoulder. Again, not to harm so much as bowl him over.]
runicking: <user name=celeschere site=tumblr.com> (pic#12048971)

[personal profile] runicking 2018-07-02 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
[ She's still acclimating to the idea that there is more than one world out there. The idea that there are countless others that exist, and that any number that they have been tasked to "save" won't be their own... It's a hard pill to swallow, in more ways than one.

Sitting there in silence for a moment, Celes finally looks away, her frown deepening. ]


And I assume she expects us to be complacent as well. To sit around and wait our turn. Save the worlds of countless others, and fill some kind of quota before we are able to find a way back home.

[ ...If there was anything left of her own world to save, by that point. ]
bleps: (59)

[personal profile] bleps 2018-07-02 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
[Humans were curious, creative, and always willing to see what they could make just for the sake of it — for good or ill. But what opinion should he possess about any of that? Androids simply exist, he exists, and certainly has no lingering desire to question this. So he tells himself, at least. There’s more to worry about now, than the nagging questions regarding existence and more.

So he answers her question regarding his own function, not necessarily the necessity of androids as a whole.]


In a generalized sense? To aid in police work. [A slight pause, and then he describes this a bit more.]

Specifically, that is, to aid them in hunting that which we call deviants. Androids who have deviated from their initial programmed behavior.
foundafamily: (Vexed)

[personal profile] foundafamily 2018-07-02 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
It's a pretty big mark, too.

[He sighs and, for lack of anything better to fidget with, keeps poking at the flowers just to see what happens.]

They say you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, so trying to get people to help by grabbing them against their will doesn't sound like a great plan to me.

[But here they are.]
theseuschip: (not flooded and soggy what is this)

[personal profile] theseuschip 2018-07-02 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
That’s... fitting.

[ If she didn’t seem so zen about her macabre existence, he probably wouldn’t have pointed it out, but it is an appropriate name. ]

I used to.

[ Simon’s starting to be beset by Apocalypse Acknowledgment Fatigue, but leaving someone to think he’s just a robot makes him equally uneasy, even if he himself has wondered if it’s really that inaccurate. He can’t stomach the gulf between him and the humans he meets being wider than it already feels. ] I used to be human, on Earth.
foundafamily: (Thinking for once?)

[personal profile] foundafamily 2018-07-02 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
[He nods but winces at one aspect of her description. He almost hopes there's some sort of quota, otherwise...]

Truth is, I don't even know if there's a limit. She hasn't said much about sending us back.

[To be fair to Astoria, there's been a lot going on--and he hasn't actually asked. But Firo isn't inclined to be fair.]
bleps: (01)

No worries!

[personal profile] bleps 2018-07-02 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
[Something’s not quite right, a line of information feeling wrong and tangled up in this conversation. Connor isn’t quite sure what it is, but there’s a thread of questioning that dangles before him, and he tugs at it, curious.]

"No. 4" sounds less like a name and more like a... designation. [A model number. Like RK800.]

There are billions of humans "around", yes. But I’m not one of them; I’m an android.
runicking: <user name=celesjessa> (pic#12049008)

[personal profile] runicking 2018-07-02 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ Great. Wonderful. So not only do they have a hostage situation, but one without terms. This is exactly what she needs right now. She scoffs lightly. ]

Of course not.

[ Figures. ]

I suppose all we can do is play by the rules as written, and hope that this Astoria woman will eventually return us to our rightful worlds. Or what's left of them, at any rate.

[ Sorry Firo, she's a glass half empty kind of gal right now. Canting her head to the side, she looks at him once more. ]

You mentioned traveling to another world already. What can you tell me about that?
Edited 2018-07-02 01:45 (UTC)