▶ TDM .001

[prismods]

Cybernetic dream, something like you've never seen

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"Michael Sembello - Automatic Man (original music video)" (Watch on YouTube)

▶ 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

[freshtilapia]

[Oh, but Fish isn't messing at all. They might be good at charm, but deception isn't one of their specialties. They put on a small, awkward smile, clearly taking in information that's really new to them.]

I can understand a world... that makes more sense to me. I... apologize. I've only been adventuring for about a year or two and before that, all I've ever known was how to hunt, to use magic, to entertain an audience, and a few secret skills here and there [They wink.]. I must seem like such a naive fool to you.

[Fish tilts their head a little bit, and despite their height, their slender build may or may not help them try to look a bit cute-- a pretty little ditz with a melodic voice.]

[demoneater]

[The demon hunter has had a short temper ever since his change, and with it his patience regarding others has diminished significantly. But while it's easy for him to get irritated with people who seem ditzy, in this case he reluctantly supposes that he can't be too harsh. After essentially being in stasis for a decade he was certainly naive to a lot of things himself, and it isn't like he's some genius either.

Balhareth sighs and runs a hand through his bangs.]

Don't apologize to me. Now you know for the future.

[freshtilapia]

[Fish can kind of tell when someone was likely to have a short temper, and this man absolutely seemed the type. But it's always satisfying when they get away with being not all that bright around them.

And it just tempts them to try to get away with a little more.]

Well, thank you. If we're bound to be in this strange place as a group, it's just fair to make acquaintances, hm?

[Fish bows lightly, a standard greeting.]

I go by many names, but you can call me "Fish" for simplicity's sake.

[demoneater]

[Balhareth briefly considers arguing that he's done just fine back home without making many acquaintances, but he decides that it would be rather pointless. Social situations have never been his strong suit though, so he just gives a tilt of his head in return before shifting in clear awkwardness.]

... Balhareth.

[freshtilapia]

[Well, Fish can be strong at social situations for the both of them. Like when they move into the elf's personal space and lands a quick peck on his cheek before drawing back with a playful smile.]

A pleasure to meet you, Balhareth.

[demoneater]

[The kiss makes the demon hunter startle and instinctively take a step back as if preparing to fight, although Fish has already drawn back as well. Clearly having people in his personal space puts him on edge.]

That's not generally how strangers greet each other, you know. [Even though it is in some places. But again, social graces and customs are not his strong point.]

[freshtilapia]

[Fish chuckles, tilting their head with some amusement. They won't lie to themselves, really... they think this elf is pretty hot. And there is something about the way the examiners were prodding at them that made them think that they're after something sexual in nature. But that is just their guess. And they aren't the type to force themselves on someone uninterested.]

Well, that's how I like to greet strangers. Especially those I find attractive.

[They look around, feeling a little peckish. They could use a good meal... they look back at Balhareth.]

Anyway, perhaps I should go... give you back your space and all.

[demoneater]

[Balhareth isn't naive by any stretch when it comes to sex, but it certainly isn't something he's put together in regards to the examination. He's found that more often than not people are just nosy and irritating but he otherwise has no reason to suspect anything, especially since he wasn't lying when he told them that it's been a while. In his line of work there isn't much "downtime" and outside of other demon hunters it isn't as though he's a hot commodity.

That's why there's no note of self-deprecation in his voice when he retorts flatly:] You have odd taste. I'm not attractive.

[He was considered average at best in terms of looks among his race, and growing demonic parts didn't help him go up in the rankings. Of course the standards of Azeroth mean nothing when the person he's talking to isn't from there, but to him the point remains. Bal shrugs a shoulder.]

That's your choice, but I'm leaving too. [Again, all charm.]

[freshtilapia]

[Fish shrugs at Balhareth dismissing their attraction. Well, whatever they think wouldn't easily sway them, really. But in any case, a pity they didn't seem like the type to fool around.]

Hope to see you around then, Balhareth.

[They won't make the first move to leave yet, though.]

[demoneater]

[In truth Bal prefers casual encounters in regards to sex, but there happen to be a few reasons why he's a bit concerned about engaging in such things with strangers. It's better to be safe than sorry given his... Situation.

And he's also just not very adept at knowing how to flirt or react to flirting.

So he just gives a single nod but says nothing else, stepping past Fish to try and navigate his way out.]

[freshtilapia]

[And Fish lets him go. Their gaze lingers on him a bit, to keep him in mind. Maybe someday they'll meet again... and hopefully their meeting could turn out more favorable.]