∎ ETRAYA MODS ∎ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
etrayamods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
etrayamemes2025-03-28 09:16 am
etrayamods) wrote in 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:
 ⏵ 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:
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. 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. |
no subject
shadow will leave him to that business, walking to the other side of the room to see what they can find. how does a casino work in this world, do they get participants names, or is there someone that oversees which collection of machines does what? if only shadow could ask, but he's limited with what he's able to do.
then again, when he looks at the other... when did the red hair... get there. squinting, shadow lifts one hand up to the top of his quills to make a touching motion.
whether accelerator notices this or not, it seems a little... off... not from what he remembers when he first chose him. in all honesty, he wouldn't pick someone with that sort of hairstyle from how it stands out.
...
he touches at his own quill again to see if the other will mimic the motion. ]
no subject
What?
[He pulls a smartphone out of his back pocket, turning the selfie camera on. This time, he notices both the blue and red hair. That is not normal.]
What the shit?! What the fuck is this??
no subject
when he thinks about it, this started to happen around...
...
...
playing charades is the worst that the hedgehog could do, so he makes a circular motion to indicate the wheel at the beginning of the casino.
did he roll it? ]
no subject
After more examining he glances over.]
What, that fucking wheel? I rolled it, but I didn't get anything that'd do this.
[There's a slight pause, and he narrows his eyes.]
What about you?
no subject
as for shadow, he looks at accelerator with a bored expression, but he does offer a nod before turning away from him to go check what else is in the room. paperwork, blueprints of this place, anything that might give them an idea of where they should go first.
he hasn't said much at all aside from their initial exchange, but when he thinks about it....
not his problem. ]
no subject
[No real answer. Great. He's suspecting that the hedgehog is responsible for this, so after putting his phone away, getting his shoe back on and switching his choker back to normal mode, he grabs a pen and paper from a nearby counter and storms after him.
He's shoving the pen and paper into his hands.]
What did you land on with the wheel?
no subject
it'd be foolish to explain only for this to be entirely the other's fault. ]
......
[ he drops them both onto the floor, crossing his arms as he stares at the other as though he should confess what he rolled instead. ]
no subject
What, was it something embarrassing? I didn't stick around to see what I landed on and I've been fine so far, so whatever I got hit with isn't a big deal.
no subject
the hedgehog rolls his eyes as he lifts his hands to show all five fingers, and then he drops closes his hands with one finger sticking up.
he's pretty sure this person can add, hopefully. it's eleven.
makes sense why this hog isn't saying so much... ]
no subject
Eleven. Anything you speak comes true.
And he called him a clown. Great. Great.
He suppresses the urge to click his tongue, and just stares at the hedgehog with a firm expression.]
Do you know if taking back what you say will undo the effects of something you said before that?
no subject
he's not doing that. ]
......
[ besides, why would he tempt it. if the other is turning into a clown, it couldn't be that bad.
what sort of clowns does accelerator know that he doesn't want to turn into.
reaching for the piece of paper on the floor, he starts to write back to the other. ]
I don't trust it.
no subject
Why not?
no subject
that sounds dangerous itself to take back what he said. then if he doesn't look like a clown, then what would the other look like? ha, he'll probably turn into one of those aliens with not one bone in his body.
the hedgehog kneels down to look underneath a table, hand smoothing along the bottom surface in case there's a button or anything around, but doesn't seem to be the case. ]
no subject
[He has no idea how old this guy is, but right now he's guessing he can't actually be an adult, he's way too immature.]
Oi. [He's banging the feet of his crutch on the floor to get his attention.] This is serious. This is your ability, even if it's temporary, so you need to take responsibility and be sure of how it works before you end up fucking killing someone.
[The clown thing is highly annoying, yeah, but more importantly than that - there are kids wandering around. What if this idiot accidentally says the wrong thing and hurts them because he's too childish to bother figuring out how this stupid power works?]
no subject
and here he is complaining about the lives of others.
little does he know is that shadow hardly even cares about those in general. ]
.....
[ he turns his head to stare at the other with a tired expression, raising one hand with his thumb at the bottom and four fingers up top then snapping his fingers together to tell the other to shut up.
using him as a test subject is an option, but there's no need to go that far in sake of learning how this ability works. aren't clowns supposed to tell jokes, it's at this moment that shadow hopes he does that instead and stops spouting information he's already aware of. ]
no subject
I have no fucking idea what that means, use the damn paper. [His tone is exasperated. Really, he should be getting a gold star for how patient he's been so far. He's treating himself to a coffee as soon as humanly possible.] If you're going to keep on being an irresponsible idiot, I'm out of here.
[Because there's no point in wasting his energy on someone who isn't going to listen. A reasonable plan B would be to ask an employee about the wheel's effects and go from there.]
no subject
with a roll of his eyes, shadow reaches for the pen and paper, scribbling on it until he crinkles it a bit to get the other's attention. the hedgehog in basically a blink of an eye is now in front of accelerator holding out a sheet of paper for the other to take. ]
You're a fucking idiot. The extent of this could backfire on you.
[ but don't think this is kindness from shadow. ]
If you become a problem, I'll kill you.
no subject
After reading the paper he gives a short not.]
That's fine. [Well, not the killing part. He's pretty sure he's just being dramatic, and if it actually comes to that then he'll deal with the situation.] It's not like I haven't been experimented on before.
no subject
...
what are the chances? the hedgehog looks the individual up and down, he believed him to be frail initially paired with the cane, but there's something more to it. he doesn't care to ask, but he isn't too thrilled about this activity. ]
What are you?
[ he speaks finally, despite how suspicious his words are... they're framed in a way that he doubts could be used against him for now.
and if they could be, they'll be able to see sooner than later. ]
no subject
An artificial esper. [And from his time in Etraya those words aren't familiar to most people, so he continues.] A human that's gone through a bunch of medical procedures to end up psychic. That's the short explanation.
no subject
he's not the type to waste his breath. ]
You aren't a clown, but an artificial esper.
[ he makes sure not to question it. remove the clown bit but leaving him with nothing might end up deconstructing him. adding what he is should let him retain what he naturally is.
the term makes sense to him, as well as the outcome of what medical research can create which can be individuals with psychic abilities. he doesn't linger on that part of the conversation as they don't need to go into fine details, but he finds his eyes look at the other a little longer than he should before turning away from him.
now the question is will it work? the hedgehog raises a brow as he looks at the other with interest. since the other is playing the role of the guinea pig then he should be able to offer more words. ]
Well?
[ ... ]
no subject
He shifts his weight from foot to foot to test the squeakiness of his shoes, and hey! No squeaking! That's one big step forward.]
Hm.
[He pulls his phone out again, using the camera to check his hair. After a minute or two the red disappears, and the blue is starting to fade. That's a huge relief, though he keeps that feeling to himself.]
That worked. [Back into his pocket goes his phone.] 'Artificial esper' is pretty specific, normally we just use 'esper' on its own. I wasn't sure if that would have been enough, though.
[So there are still some unknowns with this power, which isn't great.]
no subject
The specifics handled the job.
[ every thing that the hedgehog says will come true, that's the problem he's having so it's best to leave no gaps for a mistake. he likes a controlled situation by his own efforts, it's why he at that time spoke as close to the truth as he did. ]
There's a lack of information on how far this ability goes and what constructs it follows by being yours or mine.
[ artificial esper sounds like what shadow thinks it means, as long as they think the same then there should be no real issues.
but he won't say that aloud. ]
no subject
At any rate, he puts his phone away again.]
You're right, but this gives us a bit more data to work with. [And in his opinion, any amount of data is good to have.] That's better than nothing.
no subject
[ whatever comes true will only be a nuisance to him, but since he finds everything annoying, maybe nothing will come from that comment.
as for the other questions he has... ]
Is this common?
[ he gestures to their surroundings. ] Going to places like this.
[ not his cup of tea, but he doesn't stay in one place as he moves back over to the table to make sure nothing has changed from what he said. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
i had like 398489498030984 tabs up and didnt post.... dont look @ me
I do that a lot
im glad you understand i was like whoops
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)