TDM 006

[etrayamods]

⏵ arrival ⏴ Arrival is absolutely not normal this month. Instead of a hospital bed, you wake in a tunnel with a large group of other people. These are the residents. A woman’s voice in an earpiece hurriedly clues you in with an apology. I apologize; I had not planned to introduce you this way, but we are low on time. Please proceed down the hallway. An image of a shattered pearl pops up on your personal HUD and rotates. I am Aurora. You are joining many others on Etraya in order to save your world from destruction by completing missions. Your current mission is to find the pieces of this object that have become scattered in the library ahead of you. For everyone else, coming in is much the same. The instruction goes out to head to designated areas immediately, where companion bots will escort the residents of Etraya down into the depths, the area beneath where much the same is explained. ⏵ disrobing ⏴ The tunnel eventually opens directly into the foreroom of an expansive library, painted in marvelous hues and patterns with skylights far above. There are wizards milling about, bearded and holding tomes, quietly chatting amongst themselves. The reception area of the library has tall ceilings with equally tall doors Before you get too caught up in the scenery, a voice directs you forward. A gentleman, hunched and bespeckled craws out. "Make a line! Make a line, everyone! You cannot enter the library dressed as you are... Come forward and give me your name." The receptionist asks your given name and then hands over a box from underneath his counter. You can give him any name you want, he doesn’t seem to mind. It is tied with a tagged ribbon- labeling it accordingly. “The _____ robe of _______.” (First Letter of Given Name) (Last Letter of Given Name) A Controlling N Helpful A Melodies N Light B Glimmering O Floating B Discretion O Mind-Reading C Wet P Handsome C Growth P Climbing D Gruesome Q Gullible D Grasping Q Jumping E Observant R Ratty E Flying R Hurting F Powerful S Adhesive F Reading S Guiding G Psychedelic T Sweltering G Dancing T Bug-Speaking H Swift U Cheerful H Shouting U Exploding I Voracious V Anxious I Extracting V Complaining J Soft W Likeable J Punishing W Dividing K Keen X Ruthless K Creeping X Slapping L Fabulous Y Dramatic L Walking Y Charming M Fair Z Demonic M Listening Z Combustion As you read what the contents of the box may be, they form inside- Looking and behaving as your character expects them to. After all, magic is all in the wielder’s mind. Don your robes and enter the library. ⏵ unfamiliar familiars ⏴ For those without a familiar (like one hatched from an egg not too long ago) you may borrow one from the library counter. They all have strengths and weaknesses, but they will all assist in the very important mission. As you roam the library, they will make little indications that you are closer or further from finding a piece of the pearl. Pro • Hardworking • Gives correct directions 75% of time • Won’t run away from you • Very affectionate • Gives correct directions only when paired with another rat, toad, or personal pet. • Gives correct directions 90% of the time Con • Must feed bookworms • Will run away if too close to a cat • Does not care for you • Sleepy • Will run ahead • Gets distracted by rats ⏵ the task at hand ⏴ With robes donned and creature in hand, you must now complete your mission. Find the pieces of the shattered pearl. As you enter the library, you may notice that it’s all very dim. There’s oil lamps around the place that may be moved with you to assist in your journey if your robes do not already emit light. Break off and search the library. There is a directory at the front to point guests to all the different sections. Wings of the Library A General Works B Music C Philosophy, Religion D Fine Arts E History, Auxiliary Sciences F Language and Literature G Magic, General H Science J Geography, Anthopology K Medicine M Agriculture N Hobbies, Recreation P Social Science Q Military R Political Science S Practical Arts T Law W People X Education Y Spiders Each section looks enough like the last, though the books within have immense power. Pick up the wrong book, and you might conjure a dragon or a historical figure! You must persist and avoid making too much noise or breaking too many things. Or else the Librarian, a tall mass of knotted fabric will confiscate your robe and usher you back outside. Your name will be struck from the list, and you must pick a new one to re-enter the library to continue the search. You can try to fight back against him- he may be set alight with the lamp. But should you be starting fires in here? ⏵ NOTES ⏴ Any thread with 15 comments between you and another may be submitted to find a piece of the pearl. There are 20 pieces altogether, and we will determine if the mission was successful by March 28th. A post will go live on the OOC comm for this! This mission occurs out of time, similar to how the spaceship had. Meaning, those currently in game can experience these events any time between now, and March 14th. Please direct all questions to our mod queries comment! ⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Comments

[wolfish]

[ What manner of life has An Zhe lived? Then again, most people in Yuri's world didn't have the privilege of literacy, let alone access to a library. ]

There's usually a place to return books within a library itself.

[ Yuri gestures for An Zhe to join him and starts walking. The search has commenced! ]

My first mission, we had to blend into this town we were sent to and pretend to be families. Dimitri and I were assigned to act as a married couple as part of that.

[hyphanated]

[Yuri knows so much...clearly a man of the world.

He follows along like the well-behaved fungus he is, pausing only to pick up his frog before continuing.]

That must have been nice... Everyone appreciates having a family, don't they?

[wolfish]

[ To that, Yuri shrugs. It's complicated really. He fancies the idea of marrying someday, of having someone who wants him for who he really is, but— ]

It's different when you're playing a role. I fancy the real thing's better.

[ He thinks Dimitri sorely deserved the respite though. ]

[hyphanated]

Playing a role...

[When he thinks about it, isn't An Zhe himself playing a role? He's not truly human, after all, even if everyone happily accepts him as one of their own. Then again, maybe that's different from a family role...not that he knows what it's like to have one of those.

He falls silent, lost in thought, not paying much attention to the wet book in his arms or the wet frog on his shoulder as he follows at Yuri's back. After a long moment, what he finally says is:] ...Human society really is complicated sometimes.

[wolfish]

I know a guy who might say something like that, though he might say people are complicated.

[ If someone lives an isolated enough life, they can see themselves as being outside of humanity. Yuri's seen it amongst some denizens of Abyss, especially those who'd lived on society's fringes for too long.

He can't be sure whether that's An Zhe's situation, or whether he's not human at all, since this place chooses all kinds. It wouldn't change how he treats the guy, in any case. ]

But I think the motivations are simple. People need a place to belong, need someone to really see and accept them, yeah? They don't always get to have that.

[hyphanated]

[Is there a difference between people and humans...seems like a question he shouldn't be asking. Then again, maybe should've also reworded what he said just now?

Ah well, too late. He nods.] Mm, having somewhere to sleep, and places to go, and people who are kind to you...it's definitely nice, even if it's hard to get sometimes.

[His frog croaks as if in agreement--or maybe it just wanted to be included in the conversation? He gives it a pat, regardless.]

[wolfish]

It should be a given, yeah? But too often, it's not easy.

[ He's seen too much of the world to pretend any different, pausing to glance around towering bookcases before turning a corner. If he were a librarian, where would he set up returns...? ]

That's something I mean to change about my world.

[hyphanated]

[An Zhe does look around as they're talking, but with all the unfamiliar people and wizards and animals and books and everything else, it's...surprisingly difficult to find an equally unfamiliar specific area...so he's mostly just going to stick to following, for now.]

You're going to change it? ...Are you going to find homes for everyone?

[That sounds like no easy task, but humans do so many impossible things already, he'd totally believe if Yuri said yes.]

[wolfish]

I want to make it so people can find those things without struggling the way they do now.

[ It's an oversimplification, but Yuri knows full well how much work it's going to be. He's setting his sights high, knowing the king of his country shared his vision of a brighter future. ]

Home depends on the person, but not starving or wanting for medicine... I have to believe that can be done.

[ Another corner rounded, and a raised wooden counter can be seen in the distance. ]

[hyphanated]

Do people struggle a lot now, where you're from? I'm not sure I've seen anywhere where people were starving...though it was hard to afford good food sometimes...and in some places they had to worry more about predators than money.

[He's genuinely trying to reason through this in his head...but he also sees that counter in the distance, and perks up at the sight. Is that the place? Could it be? He tries to rub the book some more with his sodden sleeve, in case the person at the desk gets unhappy about it being soaked.]

[wolfish]

They do. Our soil is poor, among other things.

[ The desk may be a distance away, but it's a straight shot. Yuri keeps his strides steady, careful not to speed ahead of An Zhe. He's the one with a book to return, after all. ]

Wolves can be an issue too, especially in winter.

[hyphanated]

Only in winter?

[Almost there! An Zhe trots along, speeding up a bit so that he's at Yuri's side.

Would flying be faster? He only just thought of that, and immediately decides not to bother.]

[wolfish]

Red wolves are known to be much more troublesome when much of their usual prey is hibernating.

[ That can only be helped by securing settlements as best they can and having people stay in at night, Yuri knows. Better infrastructure would benefit them a great deal in that department. ]

Then you've got bears and dire wolves further north, wild wyverns in the south... What sort of predators are there in your world?

[hyphanated]

That makes sense...they have to go out of their way to find other food then.

[And that other food could potentially include humans, among other animals...though probably as a human, Yuri's only really thinking of the human victims here, right?]

In my world, we have...a lot of bugs, like ants and mosquitoes and things. There's also a lot of other creatures, but they're harder to describe, because they're combinations of a lot of different animals, and I don't really know what those animals were before...sometimes the plants eat people too, though I think most of those were in the Abyss.

[wolfish]

...How big are the bugs where you're from, exactly?

[ Yuri can't help but wonder whether their size is anything like the giant sand worm demonic beasts he's faced. Those would pose a threat in most any world, he's sure. ]

[hyphanated]

[An Zhe slows down as he thinks about this.]

.....Some of them are about...7 feet tall, at least? Ah, but there's smaller ones, too...some are maybe about as large as my hand, and I...knew someone once, who got stung by a bee that was smaller than a flower.

[Is that all the bug sizes? It's a pretty encompassing variety, anyway...he nods to himself with something vaguely approaching confidence.]

[wolfish]

[ Yuri slows along with him as he takes in this explanation. Bees range from a size he knows, to strangely large, to absurdly large. That's probably normal for An Zhe, but it's bizarre to fathom. ]

The smallest ones are more like what we have in my world.

[hyphanated]

[This causes An Zhe to look up at him with a wide-eyed gaze of curiosity.]

Really? I've never met one that small before...do you not have giant mushrooms, either?

[wolfish]

Not that I've seen, at least... My part of the world's just a small portion of it, so maybe there are.

[ Giant mushrooms, just imagine how many people could live off of that if they were smart about it. Mushrooms can grow so quickly too.

Then again, what if they're poisonous? Hm. ]

I do know a variety of species, but the size range is narrower, so identifying them is more to do with shape, color, and structure...

[hyphanated]

I've only seen a small portion of my world, too. The more I see of it, the bigger it feels...

[Oh, but he knows mushrooms! Sort of? Actually he doesn't really know much about mushrooms at all, now that he thinks about it. Which...doesn't make him any less of an intelligent mushroom, but...! Anyway he nods.]

They have different shapes, colors, and structures where I'm from, too. I've never really tried to identify them before, though.

[wolfish]

Where I come from, it's important to know which plants are poisonous, which aren't, and how you can harvest what you need of something without irreparable harm.

[ Whatever does grow in Faerghus, the last thing anyone wants to do is kill the plant off when gathering anything from it. ]

Like how mushrooms grow back quickly if you don't damage their root structures. Ever the better if you can help make their surrounding conditions more ideal. More of a trade then, you could say.

[ Sorry An Zhe, he doesn't know how weird this must be to hear. ]

[hyphanated]

Harvest....

[He knows that people eat mushrooms—he's eaten them himself, reluctantly though it was—but there's still a distinct difference between cooking/eating mushrooms, and actually plucking them from wherever it is they're growing. It's kind of a scary thought.]

It's true that mushrooms can grow back if they're injured, but... [Wait, how much can he say about this without giving himself away? Surely it'll be fine if he's vague enough about it?]

... People don't normally try to harvest poisonous mushrooms, right? Just the edible ones.

[wolfish]

[ Injuring. It's an interesting choice of words. Yuri would've applied it to a plant someone had damaged to a point that its health declined or caused it to wither, but people think in different terms. ]

Most people avoid the poisonous ones. Sometimes those can be used in medicines or to rid the world of someone it's better off without, but that takes knowledge and skill.

[ He's not outing himself, either. ]

[hyphanated]

Are there people the world is better off without?

[Then again, maybe humanity isn't endangered in Yuri's world...though that doesn't change the question at all.]

[wolfish]

The ones that prey on others, leveraging power against those who have none simply because it pleases them to do so. I'd say the world can do without them.

[ Those who take some rapacious joy in trampling others are more beast than man. Even a crimelord has standards. ]