▶ TDM OVERFLOW .001

[prismods]

Cybernetic dream, something like you've never seen

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▶ Lisa Frank's LSD Fun House
anytime, anywhere on the moon Iris | top

Everything is darkness except for dim lights sparkling in the distance, a faint gleam that greets you as you start to unfurl from your dormant state. Your body is hemmed in by shards of crystals, gently sparkling and possibly pricking your skin. The surrounding landscape is dyed in the pinks and purples of the dusk filled with crystals protruding from the ground, some as large as a skyscraper. Throat parched and skin dry and aching, you grope your body in alarm to make sure your possessions are still in place. This is far from home— perhaps a dream? You pinch your skin and slap your cheeks, yet nothing seems to do the trick. Searching for answers only rewards you with an endless expanse of purple dust as far as the eye can see. You have four options: one, panic; two, soil yourself; three, admire it all then soil yourself; or four, go into survival mode. Eventually, you’ll realize that you’re not alone.

A ⬤ As you traverse the near-barren landscape, you feel something sting your skin. It's small and subtle at first, then you finally catch sight of it: an elegant, crystalline mosquito buzzing around from the corner of your eye. However, a pest is still a pest. After a while, marks near your welts begin to form strange patterns on your skin, mimicking ancient runes. Each rune has with it a particular side-effect that may hinder you on your journey:

✾ The Mark of the Enchanter: Hallucinations, hallucinations galore. Your character will see everything and anything their imagination can conjure and will have difficulty separating reality from fiction.
₪ The Mark of the Destroyer: Limbs start to cease their function, causing you to stumble or try and get around one-handed. Other certain body parts may be affected as well. Look at the bright side: you can stop worrying about jiggle physics and hiding your fear boner.
⍢ The Mark of the Sinner: Your hunger, your thirst, your fatigue and your desire are at an all-time high. Your impulses are rabid and uncontrollable. Maybe you experience only one of those symptoms. Maybe you experience them all. All you know is that you want relief now.

These effects will eventually clear up with a bit of accidental or purposeful physical contact with another person, making you wonder if there was anything wrong with you at all.

B ⬤ Hunger starts to gnaw at you vigorously. Perhaps you consider hunting the moon's creatures to sate your hunger. That's when you see it: a thick, meaty, juicy meal on legs. No, we're not talking about Alex Louis Armstrong. A wild silver-white pegasus runs across the purple landscape, its hair billowing in the wind as its hooves smack loudly against the ground. Try and shoot it, and you may find your efforts curtailed by its legendary rage. Eyes aglow and wings beating up a storm, this pegasus is no dainty horse. Two thousand pounds of pure muscle swoop down and charge at you, all blades and ammunition deflecting off its impenetrable skin. Taming appears impossible; it will buck anyone away and leave a sizable horn- or hoof-shaped hole in them for their efforts. Hunting it, however, should be easier. Relatively.

C ⬤ Or you may decide that you'd like to take a drink in the prismatic waters. A small pond can be found just a few miles away from where you first awoke, but gazing into it reflects what appears to be a window into your own world. You see the faces of loved ones or at least someone very close and familiar to you gathered around your prone body, shaking it frantically as though to try and rouse you, yet your image lies frozen and unresponsive, not even a whisper of life running through you. Did you die in your world? Is this your afterlife? The questions start to pile up along with the gnawing dread that you may never return home again.

▶ Camp Nowhere
anytime, anywhere on the moon iris | top

Time moves strangely when you're trapped on a moon with no sun to guide you. Hours feel like days, and days feel like weeks. Travelling has rendered you weak and tired. Luckily, a few crystal formations in the shape of a cavern may offer you a small place refuge as you decide to nap. You notice a few artifacts left over from previous explorers.

D ⬤ A comm unit abandoned within the cavern will display the former owner's idol obsession. As you tap the buttons indiscriminately, a holographic screen will appear, and you will see a fabulous recorded concert featuring three bubbly young ladies in animal print, singing to you about something called Cordis, a cat, and a bag of gems. Does this make any sense to you? Probably not, but the beat is catchy. You may even find yourself tapping a foot along to it. Don’t worry. We know it’s plastic love.

E ⬤ There's a small cooler-like container of preserved powdered food bags labeled with only the word “Edible” that can be safely consumed. Although the powder tastes as bland as you’d expect, it’s oddly filling, sating either hunger or thirst. But who will be the first — and the bravest — to try eating them?

F ⬤ A strange, pointed instrument is among the effects found in the cavern. It's silver, long, and thin with a curved end and a light. When you grip it with warm hands, it seems to vibrate enthusiastically and comes in three settings indicated by a frowny face, a neutral face, and a happy face. What could it mean exactly? No one knows, but you can fiddle with it to your heart's desire. Just don't ask yourself where it's been before. You don't want to know.

▶ Interstellar Action Force Assemble
prisma, iris | top

Over a day has passed when a group of people find you worse for wear. Some are full of uncertainty and fear while some are full of curiosity and excitement. They claim that they are scientists from the planet Prismatica here to investigate the sudden appearances of rainbow crystals in the skies. That means you and the others they’ve located within the area. You are all a surprising find to them, and they are quick to load everyone in their transport vehicles for examination and questioning.

You all may have your usual inquiries — Where are we? Who are you? What's going on? Why are the pegasi so ill-tempered? — and the Prismals are almost too eager to answer. They do have questions on their own, so it’s only fair to trade. They tell you about their world as they poke and prod you, trying to understand what you are and how you came into their land. If they’re not trembling in fear, some of them may ask you odd and invasive questions in return, such as what the rate at which your body achieves thermoregulation is, how long your refractory period is, and if you would be willing to submit various kinds of body fluids to them. It's up to whether you wish to comply or protest.

G ⬤ If you react violently, you will be restrained and nerfed with a specialized neurotransmitting gun that releases a numbing agent through the top of your spine. They came prepared, so have fun with that! In any case, conscious or not, you’ll be brought into one of the transport vehicles. If you choose to peacefully cooperate, you’ll be provided any necessary first aid and a refreshing drink to help you recuperate after the rough time you had for the past few days. Each transport vehicle has a few small rooms to rest in, but due to the limited space, you’ll have to snuggle up with someone else on that bunk bed. Unfortunately, the moonshine fruit the ship is also carrying in its cargo has an extremely sweet smell that’s been permeating through certain areas of the ventilation system… Taking a whiff of it may inebriate you for the rest of the trip.

H ⬤ It’s a bumpy ride as terrain vehicles draw over various crystal formations until you see a large dome-like structure up ahead. Within its confines lies the seat of the Prismatica's government, Prisma. It’s a bureaucratic wet dream: skyscrapers practically touch the upper surface of the dome, windows glimmer with a prismatic sheen as daylight hits them, and small ships can be seen flying to and from its spaceport. The scientists, members of the Lunar Scientia, usher you into their facilities for tests. Arrivals are likely to twitch, tremble, and panic as Lunar Scientia fellows take and broadcast every embarrassing, unfiltered detail about you — height, weight, age, strange odors, estimated frequency of sexual activity —- to one another. These scientists will ask you politely to undress, too, but understand if you don't want to. They're especially fascinated by the readings of pure Chroma inside you, whispering among one another excitedly about the possibility of the new arrivals being a new moon species. What should they call them? Moonborne? Moonblessed?

I ⬤ At long last, the questions and physical examinations are done. They’ve decided to call the arrivals as the Moonblessed. They’ll take you under their care until they understand more about you. You're allowed a very refreshing hot shower and a warm meal for your efforts. Don’t worry, the meal was imported from their planet. “Planet?” you might ask, but you won’t need to wonder for too long. The ships are preparing for their next destination: the nearby planet Prismatica, where you will be dwelling for the time being. You're free to explore the government center until then.

▶ Wildcard
Lunatia, Prismatica | top

It only takes a couple hours for the ships to reach their home planet. The ships drop the characters off at the city of Lunatia, where they will be given their communication devices and a plastic card they can present to certain landlords at any residential district for their subsidized (read: absolutely free) lodging. Officials at Prisma instructed the newcomers to await further instructions from the government, but you have a lot of time to kill before then. Why not explore in the meantime? Learn the ins and outs of the world, get a job, transform under the full moon, and explore the many mysteries of planet Prismatica!

This is this TDM's overflow. Feel free to move your threads from there and continue tagging!

Comments

[shadowonthe]

[ If Molly is startled, he doesn't show it. ]

...could be worse, could be mountain giant's blood. Or drool, for that matter.

[ They turn to inspect, attention only grabbed momentarily from the water. As soon as he looks away though, the images dissipate. The Mighty Nein are gone. None too soon, though; perhaps off on their next adventure, he muses. ]

I suppose you're right though, I just couldn't stand the dirt.

[ He makes his way towards shore, cautiously. ]

I don't suppose you know where I am? Where we are?

[thedarkbond]

Hmm, that does sound worse...though it could probably still be something weird. [Even drool, if there happened to be anything large enough to make an enormous puddle of drool in the sand. Nonetheless, he lets that train of thought slip out of his head for the moment in favour of pouting a bit at the questions posed and shaking his head. He'd very much like to know what exactly it is that's going on here, but the endless stretches of crystalline sand haven't given him much in the way of answers yet.]

I'm sorry, I don't...I just showed up here myself. Is that what happened to you as well?

[When Molly gets closer to the edge of the water, Ren offers a hand out in case he wants assistance getting out of the pool. He's not exactly a bastion of strength over here, but he's got enough to do that much, and it seems like it's deep enough to be annoying getting out of alone.]

[shadowonthe]

Ah, that makes two of us then. Indeed.

[ Molly nods, waving away the hand. It's not too deep, only waist deep for the tiefling. They easily hoist themselves up onto the shore. ] Thank you. That's very kind. Besides, my hands are pretty wet.

[ On that note, they run a hand through their hair, in part to slick it back out of their face, but otherwise, just at the wonder of what's going on. ]

I thought it might be the afterlife. You didn't just die recently, did you?

[thedarkbond]

If you say so... [Ren doesn't seem bothered by the gesture being turned down, instead straightening up again and dusting down the back of his half of a skirt a little, because he's pretty sure it was dragging in the sand while he was down there.

He pauses at that question, tilting his head slightly as if he needs to think about that before he shakes his head.] Nope, I'm pretty sure I'd remember that. [It does make him curl a hand against his chin as he looks at Molly again, a slight frown on his face.] But if you're asking, does that mean you died before you came here...?

[This is a weird enough situation already, but having to come to terms with being dead on top of it...well, it definitely makes it click more as to why Molly had been standing alone in a pool like that.]

[shadowonthe]

That's certainly what I remember, yes.

[ They scratch the back of their head, still looking about, maybe for someone else. After all, there was another, there has to be more. ]

Funny thing is, I remember. I'm not the only person to have died and come back in my experience, and they didn't remember.

[ Not...entirely untrue. ]

[thedarkbond]

[Well, apparently coming back from being dead must be a lot more common where Molly comes from than where Ren does, because he's definitely looking a little curious at that. He'd be more sympathetic, but honestly, when the person he's dealing with mostly seems like they're just concerned about the memory part, he's not going to push that on them.]

That is kind of weird, if that's how it normally goes where you come from...maybe it's because you came back here and not where you came from...?

[He has noticed that looking around, though, and after a moment of doing it himself, he goes on.] I've seen a few people walking in the distance here and there, but most of them were really far away. So I think you'd have to find another one close enough to catch if you wanted to ask more people about it.

[shadowonthe]

[ That’s the kicker: it’s not. But he won’t tell anyone that, not yet. It’s far too early in his new backstory to!

Or maybe, it’s still not a detail he wants to delve into just yet. Your guess is as good as his. ]

Maybe. You have a valid point there. Hm.

Oh really? That’s reassuring, I’d hate to have been the last two on Earth. You’ll find I’m quite insufferable. [ Said with a smile; and perhaps a small memory of Beau crosses his mind. Ah, yes, that’s a perfect way to deal with his new homesickness. ]

What about you? You said you just arrived. Did you just wake up, or...?

[thedarkbond]

Hmm, you don't seem that insufferable to me...and two people is more interesting than one anyway, right? [Ren says that rather brightly, and with an exceedingly innocent sort of tone. On one hand, he's very used to some actually very insufferable people, and his usual response to them is to just flagrantly mess around with them until they find him insufferable enough to go away. On the other, Molly looks interesting, and Ren deals badly with being alone, so that's contributing a great deal here too.

He rubs the back of his head a bit as he looks back over the sand, as if trying to retrace his route.] I don't think it's been that long since I woke up, though it's hard to tell when there's just all this sand everywhere...but I did wake up here after being somewhere else, even if maybe it was an hour ago or something instead of five minutes ago.

[shadowonthe]

And we've only just met! Far too early to be forming opinions now, but 'not insufferable' I'll take.

Ah, I see. I was...about ten or so minutes. It's difficult to assess time right this moment.

Have you walked particularly far yourself?

[ Molly will give him that; it's better to have a buddy than to be alone with your thoughts for the most part. A friend to walk and talk with would be invaluable for the time, after all...he has just gone from five other tentmates to none. ]

[thedarkbond]

Hmm, I think everyone forms at least a little bit of an opinion about someone early on, right? [It helps that Ren's quite a good read of people, so it's rare that his first impression of someone is wildly off, but people do tend to make assumptions whether they want to or not, he finds. Not that his airy tone about it implies he's thinking all that deeply on it, because he knows the value of those first impressions.

At the question, he tilts his head to one side, then the other as if he's considering it at length.] I've been walking for...maybe half an hour now? It's been pretty boring, honestly, so I've been trying not to pay too much attention to the time...

[Jury's out on whether that's going to make the guess an overshoot or an undershoot, honestly.]

[shadowonthe]

[ Molly nods, and considers the situation, and what his options really are. ]

Mind if I join you?

Two sets of eyes are better than one, and we don't have a clue where we're going, so. Wherever we end up will probably be our last stop anyways, am I right?

[thedarkbond]

[Ren seems quite happy with that suggestion, and gives a bit of a bouncy nod in response.] Of course you can join me. It's pretty lonely walking all that distance by myself...and my sense of direction is kind of bad, so we'd almost definitely be finding a last stop if I was in charge of that part...

[It's one of those things he's actually relatively honest about, because when you can occasionally misplace the locations of doors, it's probably useful for people to know before they go walking at length with you.]