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

thelightshines: (I know you crossed a bridge)

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-04-10 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
...Why? [He is confused at their continual insistence to help him. Expression written all over his face when he looks at her with suspicion.] Why do you want to help me? [What do they want out of it?]
ascendingstar: (pic#17779667)

1

[personal profile] ascendingstar 2025-04-10 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ Lumine looks up to the man talking to her, then down to his held out hand, then up at him. Her hand stretches out to lay her hand in his, trying to go with the flow of this greeting. She's never seen anyone greet each other like this in Teyvat, and the few people she's seen greet each other like this here seemed to be something of an approved greeting.

Where was Paimon when she needed her? ]


I think... I think you either fight to get your ranking up or you do your best? I'm not too sure yet. I'm new here, too. I'm Lumine.
internationalrelations: (021)

[personal profile] internationalrelations 2025-04-10 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
Alex popped the crostini into the prince's mouth, nodding a definitive little yes good, as it should be typ enod.

"Ecst.... ecstart...ecsta... super happy, yeah."

Alex had too many emotions right now, so it balanced out. "Actually, 'm also sorta... sorta... pissed off.
manifesthope: (Pondering)

[personal profile] manifesthope 2025-04-10 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
[Seeing the flicker of embarrassment in his friend, Silver flashed an apologetic smile. It was a silent promise he wasn't saying it to make fun of her or anything.]

Sky Babylon huh? Hm...where have I heard that...[His eyes widened.] Hey...does this have to do with the Babylon Rogues? [Silver hadn't had much dealings with the trio, but had heard enough from Sonic and the others.

The mention of a jeweled scepter caught his attention too. Something tickled at his memory in a vague manner like an odd deja vu.]
limiterrings: (pic#17750848)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-10 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ unlike the other, shadow has no issues with the water filling into the room. it's slow, but it's managed to creep its way across the surface of the floor. he kneels down to get a closer look at the white dots that were on the shelf, summoning his chaos spear in his hand to illuminate what's before him.

the issue here is that shadow doesn't like what's being asked of him, but he has no choice knowing that maria is watching. her gaze probably burns at the back of his head when he acts a certain way. ]


...

[ one hand comes down to the stickers, brushing his fingers over each one, but deciding not to peel at them since he doesn't want to mess up anything. ]

This is...
ascendingstar: (pic#17779656)

[personal profile] ascendingstar 2025-04-10 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
How is that even possible?

[ Lumine's quite a private person herself, so she knows how Kaeya's feeling right now. She seems to draw inwardly for a minute, her hand going to her chest to seem to grasp at something. ]

There's something else going on, I can feel it.
internationalrelations: (019)

[personal profile] internationalrelations 2025-04-10 01:59 am (UTC)(link)
[...interesting approach to handshaking. But Alex would go with the flow of it too. Why not? He was apparently on some alien planet so really, he couldn't expect social norms to be, well, normal. So he closed his hand around hers and gave it a brief squeeze and small shake.]

Fighting... yeah, kind of afraid of that. I'm more a lover than a fighter? ...like if it were a debate or a lacrosse match, I could make that work.
ascendingstar: (pic#17779657)

[personal profile] ascendingstar 2025-04-10 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ With all of the technology in Teyvat, a cellphone had yet to be invented. She's very interested as he explains it to her, nodding along appropriately. She'll have to remember everything should Paimon show up later... or anyone else from Teyvat. ]

That's so much more convenient than messengers or letters, wow. [ Once he hands hers back, she logs in like she was shown, creating her username. ] Mine will be traveler. I'm Lumine, by the way. I'd like it a lot.
ingestion: (pic#17598666)

[personal profile] ingestion 2025-04-10 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
I mean....when I first arrived people helped me and while I'm not trying to pay it forward or anything...

( his confusion seemed like there was something more at hand rather than just being confused. he seemed...

almost hurt by the idea of someone wanting to help him and given her own history, there was a time where she felt the same. )


But a really great man helped me once when I was at the lowest point in my life. He taught me the joy that comes with helping others and making bonds, and yeah there are bad people in life but I always...suffering is a fact of life. Either you learn how to deal with that or you go under. No reason not to make new friends.
lordfuckleroy: made by Nia @ <user name=hiraethe> (Default)

[personal profile] lordfuckleroy 2025-04-10 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Why are you angry." it was starting to feel just a little bit odd to continue along this way, considering that he could not use feeling quantifiers to get his point across. He was boring and uninspired and he knew this instinctively, it was like expecting a kid to play with a cardboard box. Except the cardboard box was him.

"I can see why you would be angry at this situation, but is there a particular reason for it?"
internationalrelations: (028)

[personal profile] internationalrelations 2025-04-10 02:06 am (UTC)(link)
That's an interesting combination. Diplomacy and, er... peace keeping don't always go hand in hand.

[Given that as far as Alex could tell peace keeping as the go to euphemism for much more martially minded forces.]

Huh. Then even if we can't be sure it's true, probably makes sense to ask. If we get a few of us to ask, we could compare answers too, see if there are any inconsistencies.
ascendingstar: (pic#17779664)

[personal profile] ascendingstar 2025-04-10 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
There's nothing wrong with that, Alex. Not everyone is a fighter.

[ She knew plenty of people who didn't fight, who helped their people in different ways. Fighting was only one way to help. Doctors, lawyers, politicians, there were always other ways to help. ] Maybe we find something to earn you points that doesn't involve fighting?
internationalrelations: (065)

[personal profile] internationalrelations 2025-04-10 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
Nope, none of that. Zahra would murder me, and they'd never find my body.

[Ever. It would be like he never existed. Because Zahra was terrifying. And Alex did enjoy being alive most of the time.

And while Henry was certainly no Cadbury caramel egg, a Cadbury creme egg? Maybe that.]


You know, gotta admit, you're actually a really good dancer. ...I've never danced with someone else leading, for the record.
manifesthope: (Whatever Floats Your Boat)

[personal profile] manifesthope 2025-04-10 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
[Silver frowned slightly. Of all the questions to ask. Though he supposed it was a valid one. He huffed a sigh.]

Unfortunately I don't have full control over it like that. [He snorted with a humorless noise and spread his hands. Almost sarcastic.] That would make it too easy huh? Even if I could...I have a feeling the powers that be that pulled us here wouldn't allow it.

[Okay yeah, maybe he was a little bit annoyed. He just wasn't the type to really focus on the negatives and instead seek out active solutions.] Why, what's your thinking? Any thoughts on this situation?

Aurora just told me to 'survive' and wait for the portal to get out of here. There's gotta be more to it.

thelightshines: (a wish for me)

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-04-10 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
[He can see the other again thanks to that chaos spear. Now he knows where not to be. At the same time, that shelf seems to have new information he had not gleaned earlier, with how thorough the other is checking it.

...

No. He can't bring himself to even take one step closer to them. He looks to the open door to the bathroom instead. His legs start to move him that way. He might as well check the situation in there, if there's even a way to slow down the water from filling the two rooms. Buy the other more time.]
sawtrap: (Default)

[personal profile] sawtrap 2025-04-10 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ On the shelf, Shadow will see a few numbers on each of the library stickers, each in the 600s: 607, 611, 621, 624, 661... There are no books missing from the shelf.

But before the other Shadow leaves the room, a small, thin metallic glint might catch his eye from the candles, resting on the cake with only about a third left of their wax. ]
lordfuckleroy: made by Nia @ <user name=hiraethe> (Default)

[personal profile] lordfuckleroy 2025-04-10 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
From what I have seen of Zahra, I can understand that.

[ With only a little bit of comiseration; he'd seen how she prowled around like a panther throughout the throngs of people, likely making sure that no diplomatic incidents happened. Joke on her though because it did, and far beyond her wildest expectations. ]

Well, I do not think that she is here therefore perhaps you are safe.

[ Knock on wood, wish on a star and also throw salt over your shoulder-- all in the name of good luck. ] Years upon years of practice, every Saturday afternoon when I did not have Polo. [ Like well-regulated clockwork ]
querulus: (wca - hm lemme think)

[personal profile] querulus 2025-04-10 02:24 am (UTC)(link)
add sophie cuckoo and icarus to your list. they're around.

disproportionate number of telepaths, but that tracks. seems like there's always a whole gaggle of us hanging around
limiterrings: (pic#17779871)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-10 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ numbers, books, dewey decimal system.... alright. he pushes himself up, returning the chaos energy back into his body which causes him to disappear within the darkness.

... ]
internationalrelations: (066)

[personal profile] internationalrelations 2025-04-10 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
"Because... this..." A gesture at Henry and his total lack of emotion. "This... is what... this was how I thought, how I thought you were before I knew you. All the no... reacting... no personally...ality. Personality."

It had been infuriating back then, and it was mostly worrying now.

"But you're not... and... fuck. You're from the past, and that pisses me off too... because you don't know... you don't know what happened... is gonna happen... but already happened. BUT!! But... but I know and it's driving me insane."
internationalrelations: (003)

[personal profile] internationalrelations 2025-04-10 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
You think so? That'd be pretty great, actually.

[And here he was, looking at this tiny blonde slip of a girl, and the question bubbled up before he could decide whether or not it was polite to ask.]

Are you a fighter?

[All seventeen pounds of her?]
internationalrelations: (020)

[personal profile] internationalrelations 2025-04-10 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
Somehow she'd still know.

[That woman's terrorizing transcended things like dimension and spacetime. Henry was not wrong. Zahra was an apex predator, and she could sense weakness like some soft-spot-seeking missile.]

Was that before or after the lessons about all twenty-three dinner forks?

[Not that Alex hadn't had his weekends full of practice -- soccer and lacrosse, mostly.]
lordfuckleroy: ij @ saveface (pic#17552896)

[personal profile] lordfuckleroy 2025-04-10 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
Honestly, Henry thought that perhaps they should not be having a conversation about the space time continuum here and now, it felt like in both their states it would come across as infuriating and potentially a big soup for even more miscommunication (which to be honest, communication was not their strong point and 9 times out of time left them in a big muddle soup.)

But he was virtually helpless so he just sort of lifted his shoulders in a half-hearted sort of gesture that was helpless. But not too helpless, being helpless was also an emotion it seemed.

"This is not fair, you are correct. But perhaps we should think about getting clear heads before we do anything else? Since you had only a single drink and I have lost my ability to feel, a conversation like this will not be doing anyone any favors."
internationalrelations: (104)

[personal profile] internationalrelations 2025-04-10 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
Henry was right. It was the wrong place and the wrong time and a terrible idea. And the longer they stayed here and the drunker Alex kept feeling, the more he found himself having the utterly insane impulse to kiss the numbness right out of Henry. Because that was totally how it would work, right?

Alex swayed on his feet, and for a moment he was made almost entirely big sad brown eyes as he looked at Henry as if pleading for the prince to make this all make sense.

"Maybe... maybe we should... leave?"
limiterrings: (pic#17779880)

i had like 398489498030984 tabs up and didnt post.... dont look @ me

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-10 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
...

[ kids, he doesn't look like or talk like a father aside from the white hair, but maybe they're children he's adopted. that one sounds about right. shadow remains quiet, thinking his words over. if he ever joins these missions, it's on the premise of protecting his world.

shadow doesn't particularly care for the one back home aside from a promise, but... that's nothing he needs to think about now. ]


Has she explained the process of how to save worlds?

[ since aurora can't even save this dying one. ]