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

rudelanguage: (pic#17713221)

[personal profile] rudelanguage 2025-03-29 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
[...sooooo this guy's a mute. and thinks Knife can read.

yep. half-orc was the right call.

they sigh, patting themself down. where did they put that stupid...annoying little...ear...thingy that the not-goblin pointed out.

ah.

here.

they hold it up with a bland look on their face. ta da. it's a look that pinches with some apprehension, watching for the affirmation. they...really gotta put this thing on again?]


Bah. Fine.

[but they're not going to look pleased with putting it back on!]
mossheaded: (pic#17652746)

୭ st★rlight soirée (wow, who's this loser)

[personal profile] mossheaded 2025-03-29 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ for as obstinate as zoro could be, if cooperation came in the form of a good fight, he wouldn’t turn it down – not when he’d already missed out once, with dressrosa’s colosseum. he hadn’t paid much attention to the finer details, but the gist of the situation was clear enough; the more points he could rack up, the better. if that meant pitting his blades against the best this world had to offer? well, sounded like his kind of game.

or not.

zoro had been understandably put out upon learning that the so-called ‘battle’ was actually some kind of stupid dance contest. (when he’d said he wanted to cut something, he’d meant it in the literal sense, not cutting a rug.) and, to compound that frustration, he was expected to work alongside some assigned partner, thus hanging his success on more than his own skill. if they slowed him down-

whatever mental threat he’d been about to make was abruptly derailed by the sound of a familiar voice, the scowl that twisted his lips near reflex by this point. zoro hadn’t needed to see that obnoxious curled brow to know exactly who it belonged to, knuckles white as he gripped at the hilt of kitetsu.

what the hell was he doing here?
]

You.
knightowl: (026)

hello dr. crane (aphaia)

[personal profile] knightowl 2025-03-29 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ Bruce really doesn't want to be here. Just by the look of him, you could tell he was not ever going to be a combatant in the colosseum. Maybe if Echo had thought to pick him up 20 years ago that could have been different. But as it was? He was no longer made for it.

He doesn't spend much time in the symposium. His score barely qualifies him for entry, but he comes to keep his supplies steady until they're able to return to Etraya. Being visible helps to keep the score manageable.

He would not have stayed much longer were it not for locking his gaze with a man across the way. He seems. Familiar somehow. In the way that Barbara and Tim had. But he cannot quite place where he'd seen this man before. Not until he maneuvered his way through the crowd, gently nudging his way through, and approached. Sit the man says and Bruce doesn't.

He doesn't take orders from anyone. ]


You're a long way from home, aren't you?
heartofthedream: Marvel Girl (Look To)

[personal profile] heartofthedream 2025-03-29 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
Unfortunately.

[ Is better than sadly. The word is honest, if patiently restless, more than seeking sympathy. This almost a year is still far shorter than the many years she was stuck in the future after her wedding. It's still too long, and she misses home. ]

It's good to hear your voice, though I'd rather this place had let you and Laura both stay in your worlds, after getting you back to them.

[ A beat. ]

You did go back home, right?

[ Knowing Laura's answer isn't the same as an established pattern. ]
redvisor: please don't take. (pic#16616283)

[personal profile] redvisor 2025-03-29 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah.

( There's a sort of melancholy there in his tone as he says that. Home is... difficult still. For a number of reasons, but one of the larger ones being his still dealing with the death of his Jean. )

Felt more like a blip in time than an actual return. ( He starts walking again — shrugs his backpack up on his shoulder a little better. ) How long's it been since I left?
thelightshines: (To the sound)

They tango

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-03-29 01:16 am (UTC)(link)
[Watching others dance invokes a different feeling out of Shadow. He may look on with a disapproving glance, but there was time...he would dance with her. Nothing as elegant or extravangent as this, but it still makes him miss those bygone days. Somewhat happier times, despite all the testing he went through.

He closes his eyes for a moment, letting those memories pass. It is still a struggle to not let a memory that's meant to be happy, be overtaken by pain. But he's trying not to let it dictate his choices. Just as he was ready to leave himself, someone bumps into his side. He staggers for a moment, but is quick to raise a fist at whomever just did that. A...purple cat? There is no recognition as he keeps guard up. Keep moving along and nothing will happen.]
shadowsincryo: (pic#15176054)

[personal profile] shadowsincryo 2025-03-29 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
[He looks completely unphased by the attitude. Once the earpiece is in, he says smoothly.]

Keep it in; you can understand everyone with it. And, more importantly, if things start going terribly, you'll get to know where to dodge to.

[He tucks the notepad away. There's no trace of it, or the pen that seemed to have just been in his hand, and then it wasn't.]
rudelanguage: (pic#17713218)

[personal profile] rudelanguage 2025-03-29 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
[Knife grunts.]

From who? S'a lotta chattering voices around. Expect me to keep up with alla it?
copsormasks: (019)

[personal profile] copsormasks 2025-03-29 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
[Maybe if Jason hadn't just been broken up with, he'd opt for the slow dance, but right now his heart is a little tender.]

We just need to keep dancing, right?
shadowsincryo: (pic#14932976)

[personal profile] shadowsincryo 2025-03-29 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
The voice you first heard upon arrival would be the one to listen to. You can ask her questions if you like. She will answer you.

[He crosses his arms and leans against the wall, glancing to the right for a second.] Watch yourself going down this way. The blind spot ends around the corner and resumes once you enter the tunnel.] Have any questions about this place you ended up?
rudelanguage: (pic#17730078)

[personal profile] rudelanguage 2025-03-29 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
[Knife's jaw clicks to bite back saying you mean the illusory bitch?]

Blind spot. From her? Even with this garbage in my ear?
waxen_wings: (008)

[personal profile] waxen_wings 2025-03-29 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
Autoshop'd be more fun.

[ So... not Mr. Summers then. Or it's not the right one - he'd have to be young to not ask about Jay's siblings.

Yesterday, he'd have said they could use more X-Men.
]

I don't know how he ended up teaching math. I guess Mr. Drake can't teach everything, and Mr. Beaubier already teaches econ and all the business classes.
shadowsincryo: (discretion's not what I need to sell)

[personal profile] shadowsincryo 2025-03-29 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
Blind spot from the cameras and the lights on this dying world. [His expression turns serious, the smile fading to nothing.] We're here to see it and understand what's happening to various worlds.

Etraya is where we'll return to. And no, there's no blind spot from her. Even if you didn't keep that in. Her signature tags us.
bubblegumheart: (pic#16094612)

[personal profile] bubblegumheart 2025-03-29 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
Yea, I think so.

[Chrissy's not worried about it either way, but she figured she'd leave it up to him.]

And I guess the audience is going to be watching, but they're always watching.
levelshift: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/59332647 (......... 2)

Agora

[personal profile] levelshift 2025-03-29 01:37 am (UTC)(link)
[When you're as asocial as Accelerator is, the constant buzz of performance, showmanship, and chaotic entertainment really gets under your skin. Today is no different, he's at the point where he's been wishing this mission had only lasted a week, and with simple things like coffee being so expensive he's really suffering.

So one skinny, white-haired twig of a teenager is stopping at the question, leaning on his crutch.]


......

[He looks up at the billboard, then back at this guy, and finally back up to the billboard. God, this place is so ridiculous.

He answers bluntly.]


They got your bad side.
restingstitchface: (Distant)

hello grandpa

[personal profile] restingstitchface 2025-03-29 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
Yes.

[His eyes already wandered across Bruce, taking him in mentally and physically, assessing him from mind to toe. Nothing about him looks anything but relaxed - and he hardly bats an eye at the sudden resistance in their conversation. Though he holds his hands across his stomach in a calm and rational manner, creating distance with his gestures as well as his physical appearance.

Relaxed. Calm. Confident. There are plenty of ways to encourage people. There are more means by which to break them. He leaves it to the older man to decide [perhaps he already has] what he has come to do tonight.

His expression changes - an invisible shift of intensity - as he processes that he has been seen. But something behind his facade implies that he wanted to be caught.

There is a cold moment of silent before he continues.]


But we're all a long way from home, really.

[Aren't we? You can hardly single him out for that, can you?]
rudelanguage: (pic#17713218)

[personal profile] rudelanguage 2025-03-29 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
...

[what the fuck is a camera.

Knife folds their arms, straightening their posture.]


Messed up. So we're just belongings now?
redvisor: please don't take. (pic#16616283)

[personal profile] redvisor 2025-03-29 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
( The way he addresses not only him but others he can only assume are faculty members of the school, if not on the team itself, more or less confirms for him this is a student he's speaking to. One who, again, knows of a Scott Summers, but possibly not him. )

Sounds like they should share the load a little there.

( It's not as sarcastic as it could be, but. It's there, if even a little. )

I can't say I know a Jay Guthrie but that doesn't mean I won't. Who knows how it all works.
fireboost: (pic#17751962)

omg... here comes a very special boy

[personal profile] fireboost 2025-03-29 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ how could she be so thoughtless? looking almost resigned, there's already an apology at blaze's lips. ]

Please excuse me.

[ but as she lifts her gaze, she finds in front of her an unexpectedly familiar figure. not only is it much shorter than the many humans and other creatures that seem to populate this place, but she immediately finds her eyes widening as they land on black and red. his fist is raised, and he's clearly on guard, but can she say that this only makes it easier to match the sour expression to a name?

holding her hands in front of her in an effort to show that she means no harm. ]


You're Sonic's friend from before, yes?
shadowsincryo: (pic#15176045)

[personal profile] shadowsincryo 2025-03-29 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
More like adventurers on a long commission. We weren't asked, no. But we're mostly free to do what we want on these missions. Our pay is what I'm investigating.
Supposedly, our worlds are protected in return... [He sweeps a hand out.] If that's true then there's a few things to rethink. Now then, this place.

Got questions about it? Or wish to mess about and see what you find?
rudelanguage: (pic#17730078)

[personal profile] rudelanguage 2025-03-29 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
[they close their eyes so they may roll them behind closed lids.

when they open again, they're narrowed back on the stranger.]


You're awful easy with the intel. What's the angle?
copsormasks: (035)

[personal profile] copsormasks 2025-03-29 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
[Jason shifts his weight and looks up to see people in the wings upstairs. That and the digital audience, all eyes will be on them.

Still, he needs to get his number up and he can do this if he just starts.

He steps out onto the dance floor and turns toward Chrissy.
]

We gonna dance?
fireboost: (pic#17751964)

[personal profile] fireboost 2025-03-29 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
Stay back!

[ the step forward has her fur standing on end, tail bushy and sticking out straight behind her. he can even catch a glimpse of the sharp baby fang as she yells out, sweeping her arm in a motion in front of her, which is quickly followed by flames that seem to startle even her, if the step back is anything to judge by.

some other guests at the tables nearby glance over, looking between shadow and the young girl momentarily before they turn back to their business. ]


It is my responsibility as the guardian of the Sol Emeralds to protect them. I would never allow you to use them for such a purpose.

[ she doesn't like the sound of that—inevitable, like he sees those emeralds that protect her entire world as little more than a bargaining chip that he's willing to take by force. her brow furrows, tucking the emerald that she had been holding for comfort away so that she can defend herself if she must. ]
waxen_wings: (002)

[personal profile] waxen_wings 2025-03-29 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ That catches him off guard and gets a laugh that's more shocked than anything. In Jay's experience, teachers don't really joke around. Then again, students were breaking into Cyclops' office before orientation ended. ]

I'll be sure to tell them that. They might throw you a parade.

[ Seems like the right thing to say? Who wouldn't want less work? ]

I'm not worried about it. If you don't know my name, I can't get demerits.
shadowsincryo: (pic#15176055)

[personal profile] shadowsincryo 2025-03-29 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
The angle is I prefer people dumped into bad situations to survive. And I'm investigating this world. [His number right now is 80. He's keeping middle of the pack and slightly above it for as long as he can without it dropping.]

Having you open to telling me what you hear makes that job a little easier. I can't be everywhere. I'm asking when we cross paths if you've heard anything about what this world was like before. Or why it is dying. Tell me.

[I scratch your back, you scratch mine. Getting a few hands to help could yield results he couldn't on his own.] If you want more for this trade, tell me that too. Let's talk terms.