prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .012

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You awaken amidst the darkness with only a faint light to greet you. 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. After an hour or two of wandering through the crystal wilderness, a group of people find you worse for wear. They are the gallant Moon Knights from the planet of Prismatica. Because of the strange phenomena during the past months when scientists observed the sudden appearance of rainbow crystals in the sky, the government has been feverishly combing through the moon for more Moonblessed to be rescued. You’ll eventually be brought into Iris’s moon government center.

You all may have your usual inquiries — Where are we? Who are you? What's going on? — and the Prismals are almost too eager to answer. They tell you about their world and about the first appearance of the Moonblessed as the medical staff give you an examination to make sure you’re not carrying any viruses or biological hazards. If you react violently, you may be restrained and nerfed with a specialized neurotransmitting gun that releases a numbing agent through the top of your spine. Once the examinations are over, you’re informed that you will be provided accommodations on their planet during your stay. You will then be escorted to the docks, and led onto a large transport vessel that makes frequent trips back and forth between the Iris moon and the planet. Faces onboard vary from both old and new Moonblessed as well as the local Prismals.

The next destination: Prismatica.

▶ I am the Terror That Flaps in the Night
Iris Moon, Government Center (Arrival) and Planet Prismatica, City of Lunatia | top

Welcome to Prismatica’s hub, Lunatia, the city of your dreams! A bustling metropolis lush with bright lights, vibrant colors, luxuriant plant life, and all the conveniences of technology absent from your own world… It seems like paradise to all the uninitiated. After a quick tour of the city, new arrivals can find themselves getting cozy in their new homes.

A Settle in your new home at Level 2 to find new roommates and say hello to your neighbors! City officials will give you directions to the designated districts across Level 2 and instruct you to pick out a unit. Each apartment complex has a different aesthetic, some may look cozy, some stylish, and some bizarre. The free accommodations have a basic living space that can only fit two or three people at most in one unit.

Starter Chromaspace furnishings are provided which can be controlled with the touch of a built-in panel. Examples are color-changing curtains, transforming sofa beds, cabinets turning into tables, etc. Customizing your apartment or moving out will have to wait until you earn more chroma. Until then, why don’t you check out your new neighborhood or explore the city levels? Maybe your new roommates or neighbors can give you a “hand” with allowance for dinner.

B Your new flat is covered in a sprinkling of feathers here, there, and everywhere! They appear to be coming through the air vents. This seems to be a city-wide problem in all buildings, as many news outlets are informing people to stay alert. They believe the feathers are from the masked seraphim, King Majestas, who attacked the Elaran Amphitheater a few weeks back.

You are advised to destroy the feathers on sight. Prolonged contact with these feathers cause hallucinations and paranoia. You will feel as if winged creatures are always after you, be it one-winged angels or dark-winged ducks. Other side effects include hearing the chanting of voices in an indecipherable language out of this galaxy. These hallucinations may cause headaches, dizziness, or nausea. Thankfully, a bit of moonlacing will heal these symptoms away.

▶ Got Milk?
Level 2, Crystal Beach | top

With the Coiled Hearts Festival fast approaching, local fishermen have already begun procuring food across Crystal Beach’s clear waters to meet next month’s demands. Around this time of year, the popularity of octopus dishes dramatically rises. The Lunatians have an annual tradition to prepare flavorful octopus dishes for the romantic season, such as the much-lauded dark chocolate-coated octopus or the mouth-watering octopus braised with red wine.

Everyone is welcome to join this heart-throbbing affair. During the Second and Third months, everyone is encouraged to give your loved ones something special for a long, successful relationship. Friends, family, and new acquaintances are traditionally given a small amount of Demichroma in tiny cute cases, while lovers are given something that reminds the gifter of their homeland.

A Interested in catching your own octopus? Horned taurus octopi very frequently migrate to the shorelines to perform their elaborate mating rituals. It’s easy to find clumps of taurus octopi participating in a vigorous dance, filled with undulations and strange moaning noises that octopi should not be making. You can lure the octopi by either using a special flute which mimics their moans to gather them in heavy droves. It’s ideal to have a partner with you to scoop the octopi quickly into water containers once they’ve become entranced enough.

Play the flute carefully! If the taurus octopi grow too excited by your music, they will squirt white ink. If you are spritzed with the thick substance, you will start either randomly puking or uncontrollably secreting a milky sweet substance from any body part that secretes liquids. Luckily, the high-end boutique Prissy Polyp is nearby in case you need a change of clothes due to any sizable stains. Effects will naturally wear off after an hour.

B Come with a friend and enjoy learning some octopus recipes together. The Crystal Beach Resort has opened a seminar where several professional chefs will be demonstrating and teaching how to cook various dishes of different flavors and ingredients guaranteed to impress your date, and taste-testing is free!

One dish makes use of horned taurus octopi skin as the star ingredient, renowned for its irresistibly delectable scent. The chefs explain the palatable skin is a potent ingredient in various love potions and aphrodisiacs, so add or mix them to your dishes in moderation! The effects have a significant delay, so you may feel fine for a while, but when it hits, it hits hard. You will become enamored with every little thing — hey, you just met them and this is crazy — but that person’s smile, the sound of their voice, or the way they say your name will make you unable to resist the urge to shower them with your affection.

▶ Going Viral
Level 2, Moonlight Medical Center | top

“Help Wanted” posters can be found on virtual forums and announcement boards across Level 1 to 3. The Moonlight Medical Center has put out a call for volunteers due to a recent shortage of medical staff. The work involves filling in for overworked nurses, performing tasks such as feeding patients their meals, wiping away their sweat, changing their clothes, encouraging their spirits, and so on. Any volunteers may directly walk-in at the hospital. You will be provided a nurse uniform and any necessary equipment while on the job.

The shortage has resulted from the hospital recently taking in a severe number of patients from a nearby small village to the west of Lunatia, Port Sylvel, a known shipping and freight destination. The number of patients worryingly keeps on rising by the day and will soon fill all available rooms.

A Some of the patients are experiencing varying degrees of paralysis. The worst cases have crystallizing parts of their body. The hospital staff will stress that you should be careful around patients with crystallized limbs. Patients like these have a history of aggressively biting anyone who comes close hard enough to draw blood. Those bitten will exhibit similar symptoms as the victims, including crystallization on their bodies, and experience a steady drop in Chroma. An uncomfortable heaviness will cause you unable to move without the aid of others as well as an uncontrollable urge to aggressively bite someone.

While affected Moonblessed can cure it by moonlacing, the Prismals can only be cured by a gluteal inoculation the Lunar Scientia has recently managed to develop. The sick and beleaguered will probably hate you less if you aren’t the one trying to stabbing them with injections in the hindquarters.

B Aside from nursing duties, other available tasks to be completed include making coffee for fellow nurses and doctors, delivering flowers to patients, and general housekeeping. Specifically, disinfecting medical equipment, tidying up rooms, and cleaning the spaces around the hospital. As a result of the current situation, many crystal shards can be found decorating multiple surfaces, such as floors, walls, toilet seats, and so on. These will have to be swept away!

However, as your work day progresses, some of the shards can be seen suddenly moving on their own. These crawling shards will start clustering together to turn into elaborate, floating monolithic formations that will then begin attacking anyone nearby. Their main ability includes shooting diamond spears to impale any unfortunate victims in their line of sight. In the midst of the chaos, nurses and doctors will beg the Moonblessed to please protect the sick and wounded. The crystal formations can be destroyed by any method, though because of their incredibly sturdy composition, they require multiple hits before they shatter into dust.

▶ Questions
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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The prismals usually do ask us to help out with a lot of stuff. I assume they do have some hunters doing this as well, but with us helping we can get more of them.

[ She pauses, thinking things through for a moment. They'd already agreed to help so they can't really back out now.]

Do you want to handle the music while I catch them? I don't exactly have a lot of experience with playing music. Or any at all, really.

Sure! I've got more experience with strings than woodwinds, but it's an animal call flute, so it can't be too hard.

[She takes a deep breath and tries out the flute, making a few weird squeaking noises before she gets used to the right breathing pattern and sounds a lot more like the octopi's weird noises.]

That's still more experience with music than I have.

[ Of course, it doesn't take the other woman long to be playing the moaning octopus flute near perfectly as far as she could tell. Which has quite a few of them coming over in their direction.

She's just going to grab the scoop and the water containers and...start putting them in while trying not to think about the noises too much. That seemed like the best idea at the moment.]

[Marina continues playing, though the octopi are... definitely looking a little off-putting. She shuts her eyes to try and put it out of her mind, continuing to play while Aqua captures them.

Which means she has zero warning when one hits her right in the face.]

Gk--! [Marina pulls down the flute and wipes her face with her arm.] What was that?

[ Aqua's attention immediately goes to her companion when she hears that noise, looking over at what had splattered against the other woman's face and... her face goes a little red. ]

... Hopefully that was just ink.

[Marina shudders and wipes it off, flinging the ink to the ground.]

That's disgusting. Is it gone?

[Her eyes are still shut, and she's... apparently starting to cry milk... great.]

I can't see anything. Sorry, it's really irritating my eyes.

[Aqua's eyes widen in horror when she sees what's happening, and now the container of octopi is completely forgot as she heads over to the other woman. Because what's happening is definitely wrong and even for this planet what the hell is going on?]

The ink is gone, but... it's doing something weird to you. I think we should probably go try to find a native doctor who can tell us what's going on.

[She sniffs and continues to rub her eyes.]

Sorry for the trouble. Maybe I'm having an allergic reaction. The labs can't have tested us for everything when we got here.

[Okay, there's no kinda way to actually say this, but she's pretty sure that Marina needs to know what's actually going on.]

This is definitely not an allergic reaction. It's something to do with the ink. You're... well... you're crying what looks like milk.

Wait, what?

[Her eyes snap open in shock, only for her to shut them again as they water up.]

What kind of octopus can do that to people? I don't want to leave the job undone, but I definitely can't keep going like this, so...

A magic space octopus? This isn't the first time an animal here has had weird effects on people. Though this is pretty bizarre, even for here.

[It's also pretty obvious that Aqua is going to have to physically lead the other woman, so... ]

I don't care too much about the job right now. We need to get you help. If they complain, we'll just point out they didn't give adequate protection. [She pauses for a moment. ]

Are you okay with me taking your arm? I don't think you're going to be able to see me to follow like that?

[Marina holds one arm out, keeping the other close to her chest, and nods.]

Sorry about all this. If you could get me there, that'd be great. You said the animals here have strange effects?

It's okay, this isn't your fault. And yes, sometimes something like this happens. Though it's not always limited to some sort of animal that causes weird things to happen.

[ She does go ahead and take the other woman's arm though, leading her away from the beach and hopefully to someone who can point them towards the nearest doctor.]

[Marina wipes her eyes again and looks down. She immediately turns red and covers her chest with her free arm.]

What the heck?

[But wait, she ought to be following Aqua. She continues doing that, shutting her eyes when they cloud up again and letting Aqua lead her out.]

And this always happens here?

Not this specifically. But something weird always seems to happen.

[ Thankfully, Aqua hasn't noticed what's going on with the other woman's chest.]

And sometimes it's someone deciding to attack the city for whatever reason.

[ Now, which was was it to the nearest doctor? Or hospital, for that matter? She's been here long enough to know her way around she was just going to need another second or two to remember exactly where one was from here-

-or she could be smart and pull out her phone and look it up. Yeah, she was going to just do that instead, and then she starts to follow the directions it gives her.]

It's like something out of Sunday morning TV. Except definitely less child-appropriate. How far are we?

[ Aqua frowns as she looks at the phone again.]

Pretty far, unfortunately.

[ Of course, there was something else she could try, but the success rate on Lunatia has been pretty hit or miss.]

There might be something I can do to stop this without one, but I don't know if it'll work.

You could? [She opens her eyes and looks over to Aqua, face bright red by now.] Like medicine, or... another one of those other-world things?

It's one of "those other-world things". I know a magic spell that can heal poisons and stuff like that. It's been pretty hit or miss on if it works on stuff that happens here, but it shouldn't make things worse.

[ If they were closer to the doctor it might have been worth just waiting and seeing how serious this actually was, but as it is right now, waiting until they got there was probably the worse option when they could at least try this.]

Well... I suppose it's fine, as long as it doesn't take too much out of you.

[She looks away awkwardly and hugs herself.]

Don't worry about that, I'll be fine.

[ Despite how useful of a spell it was, it wasn't one that was particularly Chroma intensive.

She let's go of the other woman's arm and takes a few steps back, keyblade materializing in her hand as she begins to focus, her magic circling through her body as she raised the weapon into the air.]

Esuna!

[ The healing magic washed over Marina's body. Aqua just hoped that this would actually work. ]

[OOC: It will. ]

[Marina wipes her face again as everything clears up. She gives a quiet gasp and looks herself over.]

I definitely didn't expect magic being real on top of everything else. This place is... well, it's really a lot. Thank you! But I hope that didn't hurt you or anything.

[ Aqua smiles. Thank the light that worked.]

It's alright. That's not actually that difficult of a spell to use. I'm just glad that this was one of the things that it works on.

[ Especially if she ends up going after more of the octopi. But that's something to contemplate later, and instead she goes and lets her keyblade vanish again since she didn't need it.]

[Marina stares for a bit at that, but shakes her head.]

I'm gonna have a lot to get used to, aren't I? I have a feeling it's going to be tough... Sorry I ruined the octopus-catching. I have to go home and change now, so I can't go back and finish.

Probably. Even not counting everything from here, there are still people from all sorts of worlds here, which just makes it more likely to find something unknown.

And don't worry about it. I mean, your safety is more important than that job. They really should have told us more about the dangers before letting us go.

▶ TDM .012

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