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

[decodex]

Yeah, uh, same.

( Venom says, LESS TALKING, MORE PILE DRIVING!, and eddie feels the urge to correct him once again. wwe is not mortal kombat. )

Mac & cheese. With bacon bits. It was the bacon bits. We flew too close to the sun. Something so tasty wasn't meant for human consumption, and now we're paying the price.

( urgently: )

No, we're not gonna suplex him!

( more urgently comes the need to grab this stranger around the waist, so eddie's trying, coming at hims with grappling arms. )

Eddie. Nice to meet you.

[reapoman]

"We"?

[ Buddy, who do you keep talking t— nevermind, he's being grappled now. It's not hard for Eddie to get his arms around this absolute beanpole of a man. So. This is happening. ]

Ivan. [ Just gonna try and wriggle free, here. For being a lanky dude, Ivan is surprisingly sturdy, but it's not like he wants to hurt the guy or anything. ] This is definitely one of the more unique ways I've made introductions.

[decodex]

Yeah, uh... those tacos. They get you every time.

( eddie's also surprisingly sturdy, so he's welcome to do what it takes to get free. once venom gets hold of him, he's off to the races with a suplex that eddie's old man knees absolutely hate him for. regardless of how successful it is, it appears he's committed to the bit.

someone's got to be the champion around here. )

Ivan, you wanna give me your number or something? Let me give you a call when I'm not... like this.

[reapoman]

I really don’t think that will he— help??

[ “Help” is right, because Ivan is absolutely getting suplexed. Or whatever it is that Eddie manages to pull off. He smacks his head on something, and while it’s enough to give him a nice gash on the forehead, it’s not enough for lights out. ]

Do you have literally any control of your body right now?

[ Sorry if someone gets kicked. Ivan is definitely trying to get out of this mess a bit more earnestly now, wriggling around in Eddie’s grip. ]

[decodex]

Not really, no— oof, ouch.

( eddie and/or venom should probably get kicked after a move like that. flailing out of his grip works, and eddie doesn't take a offense to the leg that comes flying his way in the process. it hurts, and it results in him getting laid out on the ground, but that feels nice. not moving is good. they should stay lying here and not try anything else.

still, the 'ouch' in question was more in response to seeing the damage they've done to an unassuming stranger. )

Sorry about your face... area. All of it. The whole thing. It's a good face. It'd be a shame if something else happened to it.

( not an invitation for more to happen here!!! )

[reapoman]

It's fine. I've had worse.

[ Now free, Ivan takes a moment to steady himself on his feet, drawing the back of one dark sleeve over his forehead to wipe away any blood. He's only partially successful, but under the streak of crimson left on his skin, the gash seems to be entirely gone already.

He steps over to Eddie, peering down at him. ]

If I help you up, are you going to arm wrestle me or something?

[decodex]

Probably.

( he's gotta be honest! he's clearly not in control, and his body has decided that fighting is the only way forward. no fight, no life. )

Think it'll go away if I eat, like, a bunch of normal stuff? ...Then again, chances are none of the food here is good. Might be better off not eating for a while, at least 'til we can find a better source.

[reapoman]

[ Well, at least he's honest. Ivan decides to hedge his bets and offer Eddie a hand up. ]

I was going to say, if it's normal you want, perhaps we better look elsewhere. I haven't had the chance to do much exploring.