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

[knightowl]

[ He just glances at Jason. Yes he's perfect. But we don't just hand out compliments in the House of Wayne. ]

Who are you exactly?

[leastdramatic]

I joined after Dick left the nest but before Tim flew in.

[Jason knows it's not good to talk about the family business out in the open but that should give enough detail for now to Bruce's question]

[knightowl]

[ It's enough. For him, there was no one after Tim. It was too much. He couldn't live with himself if history repeated itself.

He doesn't say anything to that. Just looks thoughtful. ]

[leastdramatic]

Obviously things went different in your world.

[Jason doesn't enough if it's good or bad. Maybe this Bruce got a hold of himself a lot sooner and stopped taking in stray kids to be Robins. Or maybe it took something more sinister for there to be so few Robins]

[knightowl]

[ Jason will never hear the story from Bruce. He refused to tell Terry when it directly involved him. Jason didn't need this particular baggage. It is a 40 year old wound, but it still hurts like it happened yesterday. ]

Much.

[leastdramatic]

[God this is so weird]

The younger you that's here hasn't been on the job for long so far. No Robins yet. There's also Damian.

[knightowl]

I...don't know who that is.

[ But someone he should know apparently. ]

[leastdramatic]

He's... got a special connection, more so than the rest of the flock.

[Jason isn't sure if he has the right to explain Damian's lineage but it was still worth a warning]

[knightowl]

[ Bruce...does not like that implication. But he makes no comment on it. He'd have to find and speak to the boy himself. ]

Duly noted. Is there anyone else here I should know about? [ Rogues, ne'er-do-wells. Clowns who aren't particularly funny. ]

[leastdramatic]

[Jason knows exactly what Bruce is asking for]

None of Arkham's finest are here.

[Thank god for that much]

But you might wanna look up in the sky at some point for a Big Blue. I wouldn't call that one a boy scout though.

[knightowl]

[ Well, one less thing to be concerned about. ]

Big Blue?

[leastdramatic]

You know the one. "Up in the sky. It's a bird. It's..." Yeah. Him.

[He could be listening for all Jason knows]

[knightowl]

[ Oh god do they have a Justice Lord Superman situation? ]

Lovely. I hope you're prepared.

[leastdramatic]

Don't suppose you still got your contingencies on hand?

[Jason doesn't entirely know what to think of that other Superman yet but him having morals similar to his own does make things... tricky]

[knightowl]

No. Not here.

[ It's been years since he's even seen Clark. He doesn't carry kryptonite with him anymore. ]

[leastdramatic]

[Fingers crossed this doesn't become a Justice Lord situation]

Hopefully it's not needed.

[Let's see, what else needs to be told...]

There's a Lois Lane who recently showed up but she's pretty young. Hasn't been a reporter for long but definitely has a Superman from her world too.

[knightowl]

[ Ahh Lois. ]

Keep an eye on her. Especially if Superman is...'no boy scout' as you put it.

[leastdramatic]

[Jason nods]

Something tells me she's gonna find trouble.

[knightowl]

She always does.

[ If she's anything like the Lois he knew. ]

[leastdramatic]

[Speaking of trouble…]

This place sometimes gives you weird temporary effects. Sometimes they’re just annoying but harmless. Others might be rougher.

[knightowl]

[ Bruce just makes a noise that's some cross between disgust and resignation. ]

Nothing I haven't experienced before.

[leastdramatic]

Still worth a warning. I came in at around October and I went through what might as well have been fear toxin.

[Jason has recovered since then but it took a while for the nightmares to ease up]

[knightowl]

I'll keep it in mind.

[ And add it to the little case file he's building in his head. ]

[leastdramatic]

This isn't like home so our resources aren't the same but we still got some stuff put together. I'm sure some of the others won't mind you.

[Because Jason already knows this Bruce is going to try and shut himself up]

[knightowl]

[ Try and succeed, Jason. Try and succeed. ]

I wouldn't have expected anything less. [ He's certainly trained his own versions of these plucky teenage vigilantes to be resourceful. Other versions of himself are likely just as demanding. ] Don't worry about me.