TDM 005

[etrayamods]

⏵ arrival ⏴ Arrival goes as anticipated. Characters awaken in a sterile hospital bed in a clean, white room to the hum of machines under the unnatural lighting common to well-kept institutions. Every bit was designed to be comforting and calming, even with the jarring undercurrent of this situation. The first face they see is Aurora's: her smile appears to be warm, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. She might offer a quick explanation, or leave characters to figure it out for themselves depending on their approach. The door to the room swings open, revealing a hallway that stretches out ahead of them. There’s noise from outside and strong pumpkin spice scents coming from the lobby. Ah, muffins and tea. Grab one and head into the crisp, sunny fall morning ahead. ⏵ potluck ⏴ Cutthroat Iron Etrayan Bake-Off As you step out of the arrival holding area into the main thoroughfare, the entire street has been turned into tents and chef stations to accommodate the activities of thirty people at once. There’s seats, trailers, and robots bustling about to make sure everyone is ready. A couple of cheerful robots in aprons and colorful sweaters approach and redirect you as you step towards the cooking area. There’s gas ranges, ovens, grills, blast chillers, mixers, and set walk-ins and pantries with just about every ingredient you can imagine. There are cameramen (also robots) patrolling the area to capture all your best moments and to broadcast them directly to your fellow citizens’ devices. Your instruction? “Make your signature dish. You have one hour, chef.” It can’t just be straightforward, can it? The land itself is held together with pure chaotic energy. If you’re lucky, all goes as planned. If you aren’t… well… Roll a Die 1 Your leg is now tied to another chef’s 2 Your meal is continually un-cooking itself. 3 All of your ingredients are pickled now 4 The longer you touch an ingredient, the bigger it gets. 5 Every time you lift your pot lid, a component changes. 6 The aromatics are glowing and flashing like LED lights. 7 Your knife has been replaced with a cheese grater. 8 The ingredients are now magnetically stuck together. 9 Your meal is becoming deep fried. 10 Kittens are multiplying out of the cupboard. * 11 All of your ingredients have become incredibly heavy. 12 Your cook pot moves burners whenever you turn around. 13 Eggs scream when you crack them 14 The kitchen has become incredibly slippery. 15 It’s soup now. 16 All utensils have been replaced with crustaceans. ** 17 Your knife has a mind of its own. Watch out! 18 Your fridge catches fire. 19 Your pasta is trying to escape. Go get it. 20 Any ingredient not in the pot starts to float away. * All kittens disappear at the end. ** These however, stay. ⏵ share a meal ⏴ As all the cooking concludes, you will be invited to plate your meal into one of many casserole dishes, regardless of what was made. A ladle will be tucked into the corner and placed on the table with a folded bit of cardstock declaring the chef’s name and the name of the dish. A helper camerabot will come around to each participant and ask for their thinking and their process. Even if you got away without having to cook, even looking towards the table of dishes will spur a helper bot to start making you a plate with one of everything. The helperbot will insist that it is rude to not at least try what their peers have made. In fact, if you are to fill out the score card for each person, you really must taste everything! The robots can’t try the food, so it’s up to you. The cards look like so. The grading system is opaque. Is it meant to be numbers? Stars? Letter grades? Well, you’re the judge. You figure it out. Chef: ___________ Dish:_____________ Judge:___________ Overall Rating:_______ Flavor Presentation Stackability Wet Originality Rizz ⏵ tummy ache survivor ⏴ No matter how well your compatriots cooked or baked their dishes, there are… factors. You see that carrot? It’s really just condensed chaos in the shape of a carrot. No matter how powerful you are, these particular ingredients may not mesh with your being. …And even if it is truly a carrot, do all the chefs know the proper cooking temperature of chicken? Even chickens are aliens to many. (Optional) Roll a Die 1 Tummy Ache. Go lay in bed. Complaining alleviates symptoms. 2 That plate of food has energized you. You feel compelled to race or spar. 3 The food has reminded you of home. You must tell someone a detail of your childhood. 4 That food was so horrible that it simply must be washed out somehow. Spicy peppers? Booze? Gravel??? You’re going to over do it. 5 You have now discovered your new favorite dish. Make them teach it to you or you’ll lose sleep over it. This is all you want to eat for the next week. 6 The oddity of the ingredients has transferred to you. You start floating away. 7 The range of food and textures have inspired you. Acquire an annoying new hobby or habit. 8 You are now haunted by the digital souls of chickens. ⏵ NOTES ⏴ Please direct all questions to our mod queries comment! ⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Comments

[bigpoofymammoth]

[Manny shook his head at her question.]

No, I haven’t seen or heard about anyone with those names.

[He had only been in Etraya for a few weeks and the mammoth has yet to meet everyone who is currently present on this strange world.]

The name's Manfred, or Manny if you prefer.

[featherings]

Manfred-san. Ah, that's alright though. If I just arrived, maybe they did too. So I might just have to look. That's okay. I'm sure if they're here, I'll find them. And if I am, they surely will be too.

[She just has to keep searching. She'd just barely woken up so of course she isn't yet sure where the others are. But Sakura figures since they were usually together, she just has to ask around, to look for them. She does expect to find them eventually. Given she had just been with them before.]

[bigpoofymammoth]

I used to think the same thing when I first arrived here a few weeks back. But it turns out, there isn’t a guarantee that people from the same worlds arrive together.

[Manny found that out the hard way after spending enough time in Etraya.]

If your friends aren’t here with you, then you might have to wait for another batch or two. Whoever's bringing us here tends to pick people at random.

[featherings]

Oh? Really? I still want to look, but I guess otherwise the only thing to do is wait. To see if they show up later. I hope they're here too.

[It would feel weird. Wrong. To be traveling in some other world without them by her side. At the least, without Syaoran and Mokona. Lonely. But Sakura tries not to think of that. She doesn't yet know if they are here or not. Maybe they just recently arrived like she did, after all. That Manny had not yet seen them either.]

[bigpoofymammoth]

[Manny had a similar feeling when he arrived in Etraya without his family and friends. It was certainly lonely after a while, but at least he had some good company with some of the Etrayans here.]

In any case, how much have you been informed about this place?

[featherings]

Um, Aurora-san told me a little? But I just recently woke up here. So I don't know a whole lot yet.

[Sakura answers, glancing back to the room she had come out from. Still, her gaze darts, almost expectantly, in hopes of seeing her friends. She can't be sure in confirming yet or not if they were here. But she has to at least try look, try ask around.]

[bigpoofymammoth]

In that case, I suggest you keep an eye out for any strange occurrences around this place. They happen a lot and they could be anything like ghosts deceiving people with convincing illusions or food that comes with weird side effects. And that’s not even getting into the missions where we’re all supposed to prove our worth to whoever's bringing us here in the first place.

[featherings]

Strange occurrences? Ghosts? Spirits? I might be able to help with something like that. I'm not sure about the food, though, short of offering myself to taste test. But ah, if there are missions, I'll do my best! I want to help. Though I'm not sure, I'd be as useful as some of the others.

[Not having all her memories, her abilities not being as useful as Fai's magic or Kurogane's fighting skills. But Sakura wants to try. To do her best. For them. For Clow. She has to. To prove her, their, worth.]

[bigpoofymammoth]

[Manny feels the same way in regard to the missions, although a part of him suspects there’s more to it than what’s on the surface.]

From what I heard, the missions here tend to involve things like mind-controlling toys, fixing some kind of sky craft and people being stuck in some place where they have to find the others and conquer their fears. Right now, they'd presented us with a mission where we're supposed to make a ride for a race.

[featherings]

Fixing sky crafts? A race? I was in a race at Piffle! But ah, I'm not sure I can say I've dealt with mind-controlling toys or having to conquer fears.

[Sakura muses to herself and tries to converse with the mammoth. The racing wouldn't be so new. Making a ride herself would be. Some of the other things. But she still endeavors to try her best all the same. Even if some things might be new to her. She has to try!]

But I'll do my best!