▶ TDM .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 discover the many mysteries of planet Prismatica!

TDM OVERFLOW can be found here!

Comments

[lightsworn]

[ Why does everybody knows about the pants stealing... but he nods at her explanation. But hearing her talk about the Warriors of Light and how they're proud, but miserable got him thinking a bit
]

To be honest, with what I went through, I'd be lying if I don't have some amount of pride on the deeds I've done, ma'am. But all the same, I don't think myself as miserable.

The path I forged might have been marred by loss and pain, but that's so others after me can at least live their life without fear of another Calamity. If someone like you can look up at the sky and smile, then I think my journey would've been worth it.

[ Speaking of the Calamity... He ponders a bit before he took the satchel of powder for Megumi and well, ate some of it.

Yeesh, worse than rations, but better than the stuff he had to eat by himself. ]

The Garleans were advancing once more towards Ala Mhigo, and well, we're fighting back to make sure our efforts weren't for naught. That was the last thing I remembered at the very least.

[menphina]

[ Spoken like a true hero, which is more or less what the others have said save one- she thinks this one, however, has a better head on his shoulders in regards to that then Shadowbringers is going to turn them into Edgelords-

And she lets out a light huff. ]

Nice quote. I'll put it into my next story.

[ Don't ask what kinds of stories she writes. Though, she tilts her head as she nods to him. ]

I'd heard along those lines... that means our memories match.

[ She flicks her ears before she sighs. ]

Maybe you can tell me something I was looking at before I got pulled away, but have you ever heard of an organization called... the Onishishu, perhaps?

[lightsworn]

Heard of, yes. They're the ones that did construction around Kugane's Aetheryte, if the information from drunk locals I've talked to during my tavern visits were to be believed.

[ He tries to think if there's any more things he can recall about them, but ultimately shook his head. ]

But as for proper details, I'm afraid not. You might have better luck talking to my other comrades from my Shard or even other Warriors of Light, if they're present. My friends have been hanging around Doma lately to help with reconstruction and would've learned more about them than me, I'm afraid.

[ He was a bit busy with helping Genbu with his problem, as well as the whole Garlean being dicks thing, so his attention is completely occupied at the moment with no downtime. ]

[menphina]

[ So nothing she doesn't already know. Then again, she doesn't really expect people to outright know of them.. even if it is the Warrior of Light. She nods as she sighs and sinks back, ears flattening for a bit. ]

I know. The princess— ah, well I'm not sure if you'd know her. My husband is in her service and helping with the reconstruction so I've sent a lot of my tribe to assist with Lord Hien's efforts. There's been a lot to do since the Warrior of Light has helped...

[ Well, technically him. But also? ]

Things just felt like a calm before the storm, is all. Back home. But then I was plucked from my shard and taken to a world that...

[ Her expression tightens as she thinks back to Duplicity, almost... traumatised by it. ]

It's been nearly five moons. Yet, somehow, before arriving here, it was as though I experienced everything at home. Hells, I even saw my family when I found myself here. But they couldn't see me. Does that make sense to you?

[lightsworn]

Yeah, I can imagine. The last time I checked, the Enclave is livelier than ever, so that's definitely some good progress, my limited knowledge on rebuilding aside.

[ Note to self: Check on Hien more often on his own and not just when things kinda dragged him there.

When she talks about her experience, he noticed the change in her expression and didn't pursue that line, focusing instead on the weird time lapse, and... visions of her family when she got here? It was less his family but... ]

Nophica's leaves, this is where I should've paid attention to Urianger's rambling...

For your time... what was the word, displacement? Yeah, displacement. I'm not a Scholar, so I can't answer that, but for the vision...

... Kind of saw something like that on a pond.

[ He's still a bit unnerved by that because AHAHAHAHA shit man if he's actually dead he just hopes Arenvald can fill in for him. ]

[menphina]

[ The mention of displacement makes her sit up in surprise. Well, they're here, so it's possible- but hearing it confirmed is still something and her ears droop for a bit before she looks up at Kaelas.

And then she sits up at that last bit- ]

Did you see your family around you in it?! And yourself-

[ She looks tense. ]

I'm worried they think I'm dead! My son shouldn't think that!!

[ Twelve, is this some accursed afterlife?? ]

[lightsworn]

[ Well, technically he's an orphan with no family, so the Scions that were still awake played the part. But it seemed like a common theme, then. Loved ones trying to shake you awake.

No son should see their mother lying prone like that. Even he knew that. ]

For me it was the Scions, but I suppose it would make sense, them being the closest thing I have to a family. But I think it's... less of us being a corpse and closer to our souls being suddenly pulled from our bodies and dumped here without even touching the Lifestream.

[ ... ]

Which wouldn't make sense, since we'd be disembodied souls now.

[menphina]

[ Huh. Explained like that, it makes some sense, at least. She sighs, stretching her arms and moving them behind her head. ]

... souls pulled from the Lifestream, huh.

[ She glances over at him. ]

Heard weirder, but I'm guessing you've some experience with that?


[ Why else would a man who just wants to be a gladiator know it otherwise? ]

[lightsworn]

When you've been with the Scions for a while, you tend to pick up some knowledge or two. Especially things regarding souls and what not. And, uh.

Keep this between you and me, but what I described was actually what literally happened to some friends of mine.

[ He meant the Scions, and since she's the only one he's met from his home, regardless of Shards, that meant there's at least some implied trust he's giving her. ]

updating with overflow link!

[menphina]

[ That makes her ears stand up and she lowers her arms, lifting an eyebrow as she turns to face Kaelas. ]

You're serious?

[ She's heard some strange things, but this takes the cake. ]

How did it happen? Are they alright now?

[ Honestly, after all she's been through, she's willing to believe this. Especially with all the things she's experienced. ]

You know, that would explain why we're here and- what I saw in that pond, but it surely wasn't real... was it?


[ OVERFLOW HERE ]