prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .008

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▶ TDM .008

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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. Even the few shy moon creatures you find in the wild have strange crystal growths on their hides. 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 yields nothing but 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.

After a day or two of living off the crystal wilderness, a group of people find you worse for wear. They are the gallant Moon Knights from the planet of Prismatica. After the strange phenomenon 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? Is sexorcism a legitimate profession? — 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.

While waiting for transportation, you may freely roam around the government center.

▶ When There’s Something Strange in the Neighborhood
Iris Moon, Government Center (Arrival) and The Glory, Tower of Whispers | top

After the Viergean invasion weeks ago, the Iris government center has been repaired! The staff is hard at work now that the Iris moon base is fully operational once again. Many of them are still recovering from the attack, but they still managed to prepare something special for the Moonblessed. They happily declare the results of their research and compiled excavation efforts from the Glory, all of which are available to view at the Tower of Whispers. The tower is the largest and most well-preserved locations from the excavations, composed of spiral staircases and seashell designs. Its walls and columns filled from top to bottom with shelves upon shelves of old-world scrolls containing information about ancient Prismals. Little is known about the language used here, so like the machine translations of the Glory’s ruins, the texts remain largely indecipherable.

The Prismals warn the Moonblessed that the tower is haunted; they say if you close your eyes and listen to the silence of the tower, you will hear whispers of the ancients, unintelligible to Moonblessed and Prismal alike… For those daring enough to explore, you sense something amiss. A shiver runs down the back of your neck. A chill passes through your spine. Good thing you have the Lunar Scientia’s librarian droids to keep you company —- they will watch over and protect the archives, quick to ward off any theft or anyone mishandling the ancient scrolls.

As you peer into the scrolls, you find crude drawings in place of where you would expect ancient writings. There are illustrations of a three-headed dragon, a giant boar wearing a crown, a seraphim clad in a lion mask, a naked woman covered in snakes, a basilisk skewered by multiple boat masts, a sleeping one-eyed giant, and a beautiful satyr with flowing, flaxen locks.

A Stare at the contents of the scrolls long enough and the illustrations will soon transform on the parchment. The dragon may start breathing fire, the seraphim’s closed mouth might open and scream, and the basilisk might even start bleeding past the margins… But once you blink or look away, it’s as if nothing ever happened. On some pages, readers may find a disturbing ocular symbol fading in and out. “I told you this place was haunted!” you overhear some of the staff say. Other staff members mention seeing white figures and feeling something cold touching their heads or shoulders. Too spooky.

B After staying in the tower for a while, you might find yourself behaving a bit strangely. You’ll have the urge to knock scrolls to the ground, pull down the pants and skirts of neighboring Moonblessed or Prismals, kick over librarian droids, and generally cause chaos. You don’t know what’s making you do this, but you swear that you’re innocent. The librarian droids will be having none of this! They will send everyone out of the tower to be horrible geese somewhere else. These urges will continue for about an hour, so make sure you don’t steal someone’s lunch, sneak into rooms you shouldn’t be in, or do anything that will get you on TV!

Eventually you’re called back from exploring, escorted to the docks, and led onto a large transport vessel that makes frequent trips back and forth between the moons and the planet. The passengers on board include both old and new Moonblessed as well as Prismals. The next destination: Prismatica.

▶ Hail Hydra
Planet Prismatica, 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 As part of the maintenance done after the invasion, broken public toilets were upgraded to what Lunar Scientia calls the Raging Hydra 5000, fresh from the factory and ready for use. Aside from its reliable auto-flushing and sanitizing features, these toilets are equipped with a vigorous pair of hydraulic AI-powered snakeheads that will sprout outwards from inside the water tank to give you a cleansing spray with a delightful little encouraging slap on the bottom at the end. They’re capable of intimate massages too should you ask nicely.

Designed to discourage poor eating habits, the AI will also give you unwarranted comments about your dietary intake. Its voice is reminiscent of the shrill nagging of a caretaker. One can simply walk by the public restrooms to overhear their incessant screeching. Some AIs may even go so far as to complain about your grades, your job, or how you never spend time at home anymore...

If you are impressed with the Raging Hydra 5000, you may purchase them at KRABBA: Lunatia’s most popular flat-packed furniture store! Local Lunatian testimonies mention feeling as fresh and new as the day they were born! You’re encouraged to submit feedback before you leave the restroom by tapping the mirror to access the survey. Yes, it doubles as a touch screen! If you leave the restroom without submitting feedback, the survey will keep popping up on your communication device until you answer it. How annoying!

▶ I Don’t Think You’re Ready for This Jelly
Lunatia | top

The scent of paranormal activity and pumpkin spice lattes is in the air! That only means Geistnacht is around the corner. According to local myths, Geistnacht is the night when the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead will be at its thinnest. It’s all the media ever talks about around this time of the year!

Activities like masquerades, bonfires, and communal seances are encouraged every single day for the rest of the month. One way of celebrating is to dress up as a deceased ancestor, friend, loved one, or any figure from history or myth they want to celebrate, and wear a colorful mask while taking part in the dancing and merriment.

A During the day, Prismal children will be going door-to-door, partaking in a custom known as Ainfeil’s Feast. They will be in cute costumes while wearing boar masks and crowns, requesting to be fed as much candy, pastries, or confections as possible. Take care not to be deceived by any naughty children returning with a different outfit. Refuse their request and they’ll run in your apartment or house to steal any eye-catching item from you or your roommates!

Though it is popular with children, adults also take part in the festivities. The Moonblessed are welcome to join in. Simply download the “A-FEAST” app to get started! The goal is to eat the most amount of confections before the night of Geistnacht falls. Using A-FEAST, scan each candy wrapper you have to earn points. Wrappers that have already been scanned don't count! You must be in costume or you won’t be given any treats!

Lunatians may occasionally give out other “treats” such as condoms, intimate apparel, edible undergarments, and/or flavored lubricants. When questioned, they will encourage the Moonblessed to make the most of their lovely costumes together. Winners will be given the hottest and most luxurious Geistnacht treat this year: crystal candy, a gourmet dessert platter crafted by celebrity chef, Sheldon Romsay. Tastes like a billion Chroma gem: you're an idiot sandwich to let this chance pass.

B Lunatia’s food industry is booming with fresh jellyfish meat because of last month’s incident. Vierge jellies are a rare delicacy, so get them while supplies last! Huge meat bargains are slapped all over the fronts of supermarkets, and butcher shops and restaurants are taking full advantage! Considering the festive season, it’s the best chance to grab your party grub for the month!

Food blogs on the internet frequently post about jellyfish sushi, watercress and nettle salad, stinger soup (extra spicy!), jell-ato, jell-atin pudding, peanut butter jellyfish sandwich, and the electric punisher cocktail. Comments left by Lunatians often mention enjoying their vengeance on these critters. Be careful: jellyfish may be tasty but eat in moderation! Overindulging may cause side effects such as indigestion, heartburn, and diarrhea.

Mages like to collect this meat for other shocking uses. Consuming Vierge jelly meat may slightly and temporarily increase the power of your electric magic or energize your body’s electrolytes (perhaps a little too much)! Shaking hands with others is not recommended while this is in effect! Unfortunately, this kind of jellyfish meat expires in a few days, so stockpiling it is impossible.

▶ Questions
If you have any questions regarding this test drive meme, please ask them in the Questions thread below.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ Arrival

[Hornet didn't even know where to begin in listing all the things wrong with this situation. From the disturbingly fragile looking 'humans' to their claims as to why she was here and the fact that everything of their world seemed to exist on the surface...the list could go on and on.

More than once she had considered turning to violence but while she was no fool. She was woefully outnumbered and until she knew more about this situation the chances of her returning home were incredibly low.

...nevermind the fact that she had tried that when she had awoken to a bunch of their medical staff prodding at her and wondering just what to do with "a bug person".

That this should happen so shortly after her home had finally been liberated was unfathomably frustrating. Not helping was the fact that her memories prior to waking up with crystals forming all over were disturbingly muddied....hazy...that sensation one has when they are just on the precipice of falling into a deep sleep. All she could recall were the faint sounds of bells and gilded bars.

She's walking around the government center, casting her gaze out the window and half contemplating leaving on her own but there are others here and between her weakened state from having 'low chroma' and having been sedated Hornet knows she's in no condition to try anything else.

So instead she keeps an eye out for any other bugs, and if she can't find any others she will simply greet the next person she sees who doesn't appear to be part of the staff.]

...are you one of the ones they refer to as 'Moonblessed' as well?

▶ Hail Hydra A

[Hornet did not enjoy the fact that she had to simply accept that she had been dragged against her will to another world and play nice. Unfortunately, with all that she had learned Hornet knew she had little choice in the matter. The Prismals were pretty forthright with their information and while she maintained a healthy dose of skepticism there was enough evidence of their word from other Moonblessed and the world around her that the spider figured it best to try and get herself rested before anything else.

A bit of a foreign concept for her but she wouldn't get back home with this heavy fatigue hanging over her.

That was what found Hornet taking up one of the smaller rooms in the apartments. She couldn't be bothered finagling with the strange, fanciful technology that could change the room and instead quickly took to making a web.

Should anyone open the door of the seemingly unoccupied room they would be greeted by the sight of said web--spanning the entire length of the room and made of a bright, white, almost luminescent silk and at the center of it was a just cocoon.

Hopefully no one was arachnophobic.]

[The Knight is out patrolling, trying to find any sort of hint that some of that wretched Queen's minions might still be out there. No sign so far, but they want to be sure. After she dug her way into their mind, the way She would have...

Well, they have no intention of leaving anything to chance.

They're sufficiently on-guard that when they think they see someone watching them out of the corner of their eye, they immediately stop and turn to them...

And freeze immediately, staring.]

[Hornet had been keeping an eye out for other bugs, but she was certainly not expecting to see this one. It had been some weeks since the infection and the Radiance had finally been driven from Hallownest and while she had been busier than she had ever been in her life she had not forgotten them nor the fate they had suffered. How could she when she had dragged both their mask and nail--and that of their sibling to the hovel she had taken up in Dirtmouth?

So to see them standing before her, alive and whole made Hornet question her senses for perhaps the first time in her life. Was this a dream? Had her mind become addled by this strange world? By the sedation or maybe this 'chroma'?

Finally she slowly begins to walk towards them, gait a touch awkward, before standing before them.]

Little Ghost. Is that truly you?

[As soon as her voice touched their... well, they didn't have ears, but whatever it was they heard her with, the spell holding them broke, and they scuttled towards her.

Their eyes could not widen in their mask, but they leaned forward eagerly, clearly excited to see her again. As they approached, they moved the arm with the communication device forward and began to type into it, more grateful than ever to the Hollow Knight for their instruction in this skill.]

Sister.

[Hornet is still in a daze as they scuttle over to her. Their seeming excitement is even more baffling to her, so much so that it takes her a moment before she even focuses on the message that they sent her.

Sister.

That single word stirs something in her. It is true that they had a shared heritage, but their time together had been short and largely consisted of her trying to kill them. Their excitement at her presence and them using such a term was wholly unexpected...yet she could not forget what she had felt upon seeing their cracked mask for the first time--that sensation of hopes dashed once again--and realized perhaps she was just as strange.

With a small jerk of her head, as if to shake off her confusion, Hornet finally regained her composure. She didn't know much of what these devices were, but it seemed like they were a perfect means from communicating with the tiny vessel.]

I don't understand much of what is going on. Have you been here this whole time?

[They'd fought against almost everyone they now considered close, back in Hallownest. There were exceptions, sure, but Ogrim, Grimm, the Hollow Knight... They were kind of used to people trying to kill them.

Besides, Hornet had a reason for everything she did. A good one, that they could fully understand. And in the end, they could never have succeeded without their brave, strong, fierce big sister. Of course they were excited to see her.]

I have been here for months. But I am not alone. Our sibling is here.

[Now that was a pretty wide net to cast, their family being what it was. But they thought she'd be able to figure out who they meant.]

[Months? But that didn't add up. Yet if that's what the knight said, then that was so. Hornet does not doubt them but realizes it might be a while before the full picture of what's going on comes to light.

Especially when they drop that tidbit of information. Hornet shouldn't be surprised--if the ghost was still alive, then there should be no reason the Hollow Knight couldn't be. Yet all the memories she could recall of them were of them chained and sealed beyond the Black Egg. The thought of them roaming free in such an odd world contradicts all she as ever known of them, but this time she keeps her surprise carefully in check. She's prepared herself for anything now.]

...Hollow Knight. [She nods to show she understands exactly who they are talking about. From within her cloak she draws out the communicator that had been giving to her. She held onto it, but refused to wear it, wary of going around wearing something that she did not understand. Seeing the knight using it, however, reassured her.]

Do they also have one of these? And is there anyone else from home?

[They nod when she says their name. Well... title. But for the Hollow Knight and themselves, that's the closest thing they really have to an actual name.

Unless, of course, one counts "Little Ghost". Which they sort of do, but that's Hornet's name for them. Nobody else can use it.]

They do. Everyone who has been brought here does. And there is Grimm, but I do not know if you have met him.

[So that means she would be able to communicate with them too. Both of them had found a voice here, and for all her frustrations and skepticism, for this, Hornet was glad.]

No. I have not met someone by that name. [She couldn't even say if it struck a cord or not because...well, it was grim. Hornet stared at her device before holding it out so that the knight could see.

There were many questions that she had, and she wanted to see their sibling but she would start with what was probably the simplest:]

Could you show me how to use it?

hornet | hollow knight

Arrival

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the itsy bitsy spider

caught a great big moth

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