etrayamods: (Default)
∎ ETRAYA MODS ∎ ([personal profile] etrayamods) wrote in [community profile] etrayamemes2025-03-28 09:16 am
Entry tags:

TDM 007

content warnings for this TDM include: violence, potential death, body horror, physical transformation, loss of senses, loss of autonomy

⏵ arrival⏴



Arrival does not happen as Aurora usually plans for it. New characters are introduced to the AI, then informed of a mission that they are required to participate in before they can return to their home base of Etraya. A world called Aphaia is falling apart, and while there is nothing they can do to resolve this broken world, they can participate in the Gamerunner's Stratagem.

Their mission is simple: step through the glowing purple portal that Aurora creates once they've had time to listen to her, and survive until a similar portal reopens in front of them, allowing them to return to Etraya. The Gamerunner's Stratagem is something they have been working on building for quite some time. She informs all newcomers that they will not be present on this world that long: their exit will appear to them exactly when it's meant to, allowing them to meet the others who have been recruited to save their worlds. She provides each and every arrival with an earpiece, allowing them to communicate with the other Etrayans. Aurora suggests taking a bag full of supplies along with them, which she will fill with a few generic items as well as any specific items they may need: synthetic blood for vampires, protein bars for those who may burn through calories faster, medication for anyone who requires it.


⏵ aphaia ⏴


Aphaia is a neon-lit, chaotic planet. Cameras are everywhere, every action and inaction is judged by the 'audience'. Towering holograms advertise upcoming events while flashing leader boards track the most "popular" players. Contestants are thrown into challenges, many of which are games of skill, survival, and deception all to keep the viewers entertained. Not participating is an option! However, avoiding playing along and not putting on a show will quickly cause participants' score to go down, and scores that reach zero? Well.

Unfortunately, there are only so many resources left on Aphaia. Their wildlife has died off, their planet is falling apart, and most others in this galaxy were either destroyed from the inside out, or warring planets trying to gain control of remaining resources destroyed them to avoid others getting involved. Their natural resources are depleted, and only those who manage to keep their scores up are given the luxury of having any supplies. As soon as one steps foot on Aphaia, as soon as they breathe, they intake nanotechnology which tracks their oxygen consumption, their food, everything they do or need. As soon as their scores reach zero?

They disappear. There one moment, and completely gone the next. Their communicators go offline, and while everything they were carrying will be left behind, no one will be able to find them. They are simply--gone, erased from existence.

This is a death and counts as a death as outlined in the game FAQ! Please keep this in mind.

"Points" that go towards their total score will be assigned to contestants from the moment they drop down on planet. This will be visible using the HUD on their earpiece, and will be randomized at the beginning. For the sake of the TDM, we ask that no one be assigned Paragon initially, but you're free to use other ranks!

The possible rankings are:

100: PARAGON
99-80: LUMINARY
79-70: CHAMPION
69-50: CONTENDER
49-30: UNDERLING
30-0: SHADE

Ranks may change daily, or even hourly depending on the kind of situation one has found themselves in. Are they having a very public break up in which it comes out that they wronged their ex? They may go from a Champion to a Shade before they can even blink. Did they save a defenseless reporter from the big bad villain of the week? They may find themselves quickly elevated up to Luminary and given all the benefits that comes with being upper class. The world is their oyster, they only need to figure out how they'd like to utilize it!

Aphaia is broken up into four districts.

The Colosseum is a dynamic battle arena where combatants fight for entertainment, with shifting environments controlled by the audience. Victories earn points, while losses depend on performance.

The Symposium is a lavish social hub for top contestants, where alliances and betrayals are made under the audience’s watchful eye.

The Agora is the public center of Aphaia, where contestants engage with the audience through polls, interviews, and challenges to maintain popularity. It also houses the contestants in high-rise apartments.

And Backalleys provide hidden spaces with intentional blind spots for secret dealings, though the Gamerunner is always aware of what happens there.


⏵ st★rlight soirée ⏴


Something special is happening in the Colosseum. Lights flicker as the arena shifts, rearranging itself into a grand, glittering ballroom - if a ballroom had stadium seating, paparazzi drones, and an ever-changing floor plan designed to disorient those within it. Silver chandeliers pulse with artificial starlight, their glow refracted through the crystalline floors. Music swells, but it sounds - unnatural. It thrums through your veins, setting your blood alight with the urge to dance.

Why is the ballroom designed as if intentionally put together to throw off one's balance? Well, it's time for the Panopticon Prom, of course!

The Panopticon Prom isn't just an adventure in dancing and impressing your most recent crush. It's a test of endurance, cunning, grace, and charm. The floor beneath your feet moves as if it has a mind of it's own, shifting to the beat like a living creature all of it's own. It tilts, undulates, even vanishing in sections to keep dancers on edge. After all, it's difficult to keep up one's pace if they're falling through a hole in the floor to the foam pit below.

Drones zip through the air, catching every stumble, every misstep, and every attempt to throw off others on the dance floor. This is a competition, after all; and what fun is a dance battle without having the freedom to thwart someone else on their road to victory?

The rules are simple:
  • You must dance with a partner. This can be an ally, an enemy, or someone you intend on using as a stepping stone to victory. It matters not, as long as you have one hand (or limb) on them at all times.
  • The longer you last, the better your chances. Endurance is the name of the game, meaning one must pace themselves on the dance floor. While epic twirls and impressive moves will garner more attention, it may also hurt your chances in the long run.
  • You may sabotage others by throwing them off balance, but keep in mind: everything is televised, and it won't stay secret for long.
  • The arena adapts to the chaos. Expect sudden obstacles, environmental shifts, and sudden changes in the music's tempo. Gravity may shift, walls may close in, but participants can't let that stop them - they must continue to dance, if they wish to win.
The audience is watching. Who will make the final cut and become Prom King and Queen? Everyone is vying for the titles: it doesn't matter what rank you started at when you joined the Panopticon Prom. Whoever wins becomes a Paragon until their points drop. There aren't many opportunities to sail through the rankings, but this is a sure way to do it. As long as they can keep up.


⏵ casino royale ⏴


Out in the Agora, another popular quarterly event is being set up! The Casino Royale has been destroyed countless times, but it seems as if the Gamerunner just can't let it go - every time it gets knocked down, it gets rebuilt.

There is one rule. One must take a turn at the revolving wheel just inside the door as their entry fee, and whatever the wheel lands on, they must maintain until they exit the building for the night. Sometimes, this is easier: an effect they have no control over and cannot undo even if they wanted to. Sometimes, this is more difficult: an assigned task they must complete. Failure to abide by the wheel once means receiving a penalty. Twice? Certain death if caught by any employee.

The wheel's effects are as follows:

1 You must speak entirely in rhyme. 2 Your body has become unnaturally delicate. The smallest injury hurts like a fatal wound.
3 You must avoid stepping into any sources of light. Doing so causes massive burns to appear on any area of your skin where light has touched. 4 You have been transformed into an animal! You can still think as you had before, but you cannot speak or communicate easily.
5 You have been cursed with supernatural strength, but cannot control it. 6 Time doesn't flow normally for you anymore. Each mistake you make makes you visibly younger, slowly erasing your experiences, skills, or even memories.
7 You can no longer form your own words, but only repeat what others have said to you. 8 You cannot meet another person's gaze.
9 You can no longer turn around, physically or metaphorically. If you try to return where you came from, you'll find that the pathway no longer exists. 10 You are given a specific letter that you must avoid using out loud entirely. "A"? Better hope you know enough words without one.
11 Every time you speak, your words come true - but never in the way you intended. Trying to control this is futile; the monkey's paw curls with every new sentence. 12 Within the casino, you lose the ability to feel anything. No pain, no pleasure, no warmth, and no cold. At first it may feel like a blessing - until you realize you cannot feel hunger, or tell if you're injured.
13 Regardless of if you've drunken anything, you still act inebriated. The effect only gets worse the longer you stay. 14 No one can see you. You are invisible, even if you are still able to reach out and touch or converse with those around you.
15 Any special ability you have is gone. You are reduced down to what an average human being is capable of - regardless of if you are human. 16 Violent impulses become impossible to ignore. You are rage incarnate, and you will be heard.
17 Every time you make a decision - to walk into an area, to start a conversation, anything, a small thread pulls loose from your clothing or your skin. Keep making choices, and you may become entirely undone. 18 You may speak freely, but for every syllable you say, your ability to hear slowly fades. You may want to watch your word count - too many, and you may not be able to hear at all.
19 Perhaps you arrived with a friend, or beside a stranger. It matters not: whoever came in either just before or just after you, you feel a powerful urge to protect them to the point of aggression. 20 Love is in the air - at least it is for you. Every time you meet someone's gaze, you feel the need to try and make them fall in love with you, through whatever means necessary.


The casino is alive with the hum of conversation, the clink of glasses, and the steady whirl of the roulette wheels. Golden chandeliers cast a warm glow over velvet-lined tables, where fortunes are made and lost with the flick of a wrist. But something feels. . . off.

The dealers never blink. The cards never seem random. And the house always wins - always. Maybe it's just paranoia, or maybe this casino is something more than just a den of chance. Tonight, you're not here just to play; you're here on a mission.

You've arrived dressed to kill, blending into the sea of bodies filling the casino's floors. But you're not here to win points or boost your social standing - you're here to win intel. Somewhere in this casino is a single flash drive containing information on just how Aphaia maintains their system. The only problem? The House knows someone is coming for it. After all, they're well-aware of the game: whoever retrieves the flash drive will obtain information on how to flip the script, to change the rules of the game to fit their wants and needs, rather than following the current Gamerunner. After all, this is the Gamerunner's Stratagem that Aurora has sent them out on! Many apply for 'employment' within the Casino Royale in hopes of getting insider information on where the flash drive is hidden and what it looks like. However, it seems that even the employees have no clue where it has been hidden.

⏵ NOTES ⏴


This is an extension of our Aphaia Mission! We have included enough information in this post that catching up to current in game logs isn't necessary to play with it, but you are welcome to use any part of the Aphaia setting in your prompts as you'd like. Current players are also welcome to bring the events from this TDM into their in-game threads.

This mission can happen outside of time as needed! Incoming characters will find themselves introduced to Aphaia as they arrive. Current characters may find Aurora calling on them to visit Aphaia after the current mission for the Gamerunner's Stratagem.

Characters already in game are welcome to post to the TDM, too! Please mark them as current characters in your header. Threads can be kept as game canon as long as both characters get into the game!

Please direct all questions relating to this log to our mod queries comment! All other questions can be directed to our FAQ.

FULL NAVIGATION

lastofthearmlizards: (4)

[personal profile] lastofthearmlizards 2025-04-10 04:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[Baylene nods.]

Indeed. Many creatures of all shapes and sizes travel together in a herd for the annual journey towards the nesting grounds. I was one of the many stragglers who joined up with them along the way and believe me, it wasn’t exactly easy to keep up without having to step on the smaller kind.
thelightshines: (Can I sail through)

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-04-10 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[Shadow remains laying on the table for a moment. Doesn't suit him. Who brought him to this very point to begin with? He scoffs as he moves to sit back up. The area is still dimly lit by the sparks coming off his fur, his body tensing when he sees where the water level was. Nearing the knees of the alien creature.

There's something else though. The light from his quill illuminates a familiar piece of paper, stuck to the side of the couch. He could probably grab it without leaving the table. The cake is knocked into the water as he shifts to reach for the folded paper. Was there still any writing on it after being in the water for so long?]
hauntedsnowfall: (z acadimi thinky 06)

[personal profile] hauntedsnowfall 2025-04-10 05:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The hedgehog-man before him makes a good point, were it that easy anyone would have it. So blue eyes follow red and stare at the table before them. ]

Admittedly, I have not been in a great many gambling dens, so perhaps my knowledge here is limited… However, there are several things I find rather odd.

The wheel is meant to be a form of entertainment for watchers, yes? The whole point is “entertainment”. Yet it seems as if no one is beating the card sharks in their games. That can’t be entertaining, can it? Doesn’t the thrill lay in the chance to beat difficult odds?

And the card sharks themselves [ He’s talking about the dealers. ] I don’t think any of them have blinked since I arrived. Is this a combined tactic to weed out the folk who aren’t here to rob them? I certainly wouldn’t want to play an unwinable game, much less watch it.

So, if the entertainment doesn’t lay there, where does it? What is the house playing at?

[ A lot of this place does not make sense to Dimitri in the slightest. Yes, the sorcery used to capture electricity within glass is a wonder beyond his understanding, but that’s superficial. Dimitri was raised to rule a kingdom and he cannot fathom how any of the governing done here is in the best interests of the people.

Dimitri isn’t expecting answers to the questions he is posing, but he does feel it is important to ask them. To wonder, pick at, and find holes. ]
twin_blade: (Default)

[personal profile] twin_blade 2025-04-10 05:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Her attempt at the rhyme makes Vax chuckle. ]

Oh yes, all the shoes.

[ But she's got the right idea, sort of. ]

And it's alright, things like this happen. Let's introduce ourselves properly next time.

[ If she ends up going back to Etraya with the rest of them. ]

Sorry I can't be mroe help for your search. But if you do find the drive and need someone to pick a lock or something, come find me.
limiterrings: (pic#17723454)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-10 05:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[ don't piss him off, bucko.

with the book in hand, shadow flips to the page with the dog-ear, flipping the ear up and getting a better look at what's written. ]
sawtrap: (Default)

[personal profile] sawtrap 2025-04-10 05:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[ What's left of the note reads: ]
▒░u ░o▒'t m▒e░ t▓▓ ░ta▒dar▓s f▓r M▒░sa
B▒t ▓░▒'re c▓▒ta▒░ly ░ot d▒▒b
F▒n░ ▓e a▒on░st t▒e d▓u░ks,
Th░ p▓yo▒fs, a▓d u░▓d ▒um.
[ As for the book, the page Shadow flips to seems to be an anatomical diagram of the same type of alien that's seated in the chair behind him. In it, the stomach is circled in red and marked with an 'x'. ]
querulus: (gen x - omg cringe)

[personal profile] querulus 2025-04-10 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)
you only really need 1 of us for that. maybe 2 to have a backup. but 4? 4.5 if we count you? yeesh. we'll all just be stepping on each other's toes. and brains. brain toes.
dreamsofearth: (Worried)

[personal profile] dreamsofearth 2025-04-10 05:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[Maria headed back to the end of the bed, grabbing her pillow as she sat so she could hug it against her chest.

Her Shadow was using a chaos spear for light and thankfully had stopped going after the other Shadow for now.

It looked like the other was going to head to the bathroom but paused at the table with the cake.

Then the light from the spear went out. Maria was grateful that the cameras had done kind of night vision feature but she knew it was probably darker for the Shadows.]


I don't like this at all. But it looks like they both... [It got darker as the other Shadow picked up a candle and the flame went out. Maria squeezed the pillow harder.]

...

Noticed...something?
querulus: (psylocke - ...)

[personal profile] querulus 2025-04-10 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[Alright, screw this. He's switching to telepathy.]

/You wanna just cut to the part where you punch me or whatever so we can get it over with? I know you're pissed./
futuremessiah: (Default)

[personal profile] futuremessiah 2025-04-10 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[Brain toes? Seriously wtf?]

I haven’t seen much here that makes sense, so who knows?
Edited 2025-04-10 17:31 (UTC)
querulus: (x-men - now hold on cowpoke)

:D

[personal profile] querulus 2025-04-10 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[Ooookay, so the "I've heard of you" doesn't go both ways, apparently. Quentin is choosing to believe Nate is from an earlier point in time, because the alternative is so highly insulting it doesn't merit thinking about. Who doesn't know Quentin Quire???

Well. Probably a lot of people. But everybody should!]


/Whoa, whoa, calm down, buddy. We're all friends here.

I'm Quentin. You're putting out a metric fuckton of psychic noise all over the place, and it's giving me a migraine. Just seeing if you could take it down a couple of notches, that's all./


[Quentin gives him the psychic equivalent of a hands-raised pacifying gesture. He comes in peace, really!]
fireboost: (pic#17773409)

[personal profile] fireboost 2025-04-10 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[ one of the shadows disappears from their vision, the other examining something he seems to have noticed in the candle. the camera darkvision helps, but it's not the same as having a light, and blaze has to squint to make out the shapes on the grainy television. it's when maria squeezes the pillow that her attention is pulled back to the room.

gently, she places a hand on maria's shoulder. ]


It will be alright.

[ but pop! goes the balloon. something seems to fall, and the older shadow reappears in the room—just next to the younger. ]
limiterrings: (pic#17723506)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-10 06:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[ closing the book, the hedgehog turns around walking through the water to close the distance between him and the alien from before. he ignores the other hedgehog in favor of it, his own streaks still glowing faintly.

he lifts one hand, a green crackle embedded with a bit of gold from the energy he had took from the other forms into his hand creating another spear. it's the best way to use excess and it illuminates his surroundings while the glow in his quills finally dies down. shadow keeps in mind what was in the book, cutting at the initial layer of the stomach. ]
querulus: (wca - i lost interest already)

[personal profile] querulus 2025-04-10 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[There's probably some parallel he could draw about the Cuckoos being the scorpions and Quentin eternally the doomed frog, if he were feeling particularly uncharitable. 

Quentin doesn't go to the couch, but he does move to lean against the wall near the door rather than standing awkwardly in front of the door itself. And hey, why not, he'll take the champagne. He holds out a hand as a glow that's several shades brighter than the one Sophie produced surrounds the glass she poured and dutifully carries it to him.]


/What do you want, Sophie?/

[The words are a bit blunt, but his tone is more obliging than anything. Sincere. Resigned. This isn't a social call for them to enjoy each other's company, because Sophie has been nothing if not abundantly clear that she does not enjoy Quentin's company. She wants something from him. He'd rather just know what it is.]
sawtrap: (Default)

[personal profile] sawtrap 2025-04-10 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The material of its stomach peels away easily—revealing that the inside of its material is covered in white. None of the organs that were indicated in the book are present as he cuts it open either. Only a thick, lumpy green sludge that begins to spill out of the hollow opening inside of the figure. ]
shadowsincryo: (I just can't let it out)

[personal profile] shadowsincryo 2025-04-10 06:30 pm (UTC)(link)
It can’t hurt to look. Anything important is worth fighting for. [Isn’t it? He puts his hands on his hips. He looks at them, calm and his expression one of patient focus.]

An actively dying world will have some kind of evidence of why it is failing. If not obvious signs some kind of pattern we can find later.
rudelanguage: (pic#17730072)

[personal profile] rudelanguage 2025-04-10 06:32 pm (UTC)(link)
So this place is familiar enough? To you? S'not for me, it's like a fffhhhrhhh-- [they slur their speech to stop, catching themself before they get on a complaining roll akin to their usual cadence. they grunt. orc.] I don' get it.
thelightshines: (Can the child within my heart)

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-04-10 06:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[The words are still there on the paper, if not fully decipherable. He doesn't get an opportunity to try and figure it out for long, as he lifts his head when he hears the water being sloshed about. The other was returning from the bookshelf. Still wary after all that's happened, his attention stays on them. He watches curiously when they start to cut into the alien's stomach. ]
limiterrings: (pic#17703072)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-10 06:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[ what is this? he's been through worse, his hand grabbing the green substance to slowly crush in his hand in case there's something inside of the sludge. if not, he drops his hand into the water to wash it off as he continues the same action to see if there's anything inside.

to make his search easier, he'll widen the cut that he's made to get his whole arm in there. ]
sophielicious: (nyx_008)

[personal profile] sophielicious 2025-04-10 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
(The sheer annoyance that comes out from such a small thing like the color of his telekinesis. That little reminder that they were second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth place in class compared to this dorkus. She might have just called him out for the ugly, green look of jealousy, but her own too reveals itself. It bubbles before she catches it to the surface. Great, just great, things were so much easy to manage when her brain was five brains, and they would catch each other.

Loneliness. Alone. No, that's not the point. Mute, mute, mute. Mute. At least now, locked in, she can also be mad that he is here. She was dumbfounded, but ultimately slightly impressed at him yesterday for his display of an actual attitude towards her actions. Today, he went back to zero. She's hard to please, unfortunately.

Fine. She'll sip at the champagne, the surface pleased with the bubbly taste against her tongue before she replays the conversation they had yesterday. His voice resonates to both their brains; "/I'm not bringing you take out and champagne for your date with Julian Keller after you told him our fucking cult island exploded!/"; "/Newsflash, Sophie, Krakoa was my home too. I just don't—/"; "/It's fine. I lost my temper, that's all./"...

And she taps her glass with her finger, as if she was punctuating something.)


/Was this because I was a bitch or was this because of something else that you're not telling me?/
overconfidently: overconfidently. (pic#15681320)

[personal profile] overconfidently 2025-04-10 06:57 pm (UTC)(link)
( At least it's understandable and not just some random telepath trying to snoop around in his head. Telepaths are just rude like that. He would know, being one himself. But the explanation is met with a sort of wary psychic eye. Alright. He gets it. Not like he enjoys hearing all the random thoughts of the people around here ricocheting off the walls of his mind.

Taking a moment, he closes his eyes and tries to focus — tries to ground himself to the point where he's no longer feeling unstable within his own mind. )


I don't have any friends.

( He says it after a moment, the pressure of his telepathic presence coming to be something more along the lines of a gentle ebb and flow across the telepathic airways. Someone with as much power as him is a bit difficult to not notice at times, he knows. It's why Xavier came snooping around in the first place.

Regardless, the voices within his head slowly become more of a gentle murmuring he can relatively tune out and he drops his hand away from his face, eye still glowing bright with warm gold for a moment. )


What are you? X-Men?
Edited 2025-04-10 18:58 (UTC)
shadowsincryo: (Alone)

[personal profile] shadowsincryo 2025-04-10 07:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[He flips the page and motions for her to follow him. He walks to a table and indicates they both sit down. Once they are seated he begins to write.

He learned early in his time as a knight that writing while standing only worked for short things.]


‘Here is what I know. A higher being named Echo noticed worlds were dying. This could be true. It might not be. I’m looking into it.

They built cities and overseers to collect people to carry out missions to help save their worlds. Or investigate the cause. That’s uncertain for now. Our overseer is Aurora.

She seems to be learning how to interact with us as much as we are learning about her. She and her sister cities she can reach are within contact of each other but not the greater network. None of them can contact all of them except Echo. In the last mission the wizards of the library knew who we were and why we were there. These people know we who we are to an uncomfortable level.

I’m wondering how wide spread we are the companions of our worlds has spread. For obvious reasons I’m relieved it is you here. I promise I’ll keep your secrets the same way you keep mine.’
sawtrap: (Default)

[personal profile] sawtrap 2025-04-10 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Shadow will find it after a few handfuls—he squeezes the bubbling sludge, and there's something solid inside it. Something metal. If he rinses it off with his hand in the water, he'll find that it's a very small little key. ]
shadowsincryo: (pic#15815090)

[personal profile] shadowsincryo 2025-04-10 07:21 pm (UTC)(link)
It isn’t. [He smiles, casual air right back in place. It’s a mask. He has adjusted enough to process the bullshit behind a filter.]

But people are people. You can talk to them and see what they think and want. Or don’t want. That’s a start.
limiterrings: (pic#17723494)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-10 07:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[ yeah, he'll wash off the key in the water as he gets up away from the... body. he hasn't seen anything that would use this, but that's because he hasn't gotten a real good look around. standing off at the side, he tries to see if he remembers any other exits when entering the room. ]