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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. |
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It's kind of you to offer. [ Considerate, for that matter. Where survival is concerned, not everyone so readily thinks of others. ] I believe I'm starting on stable ground, but this is a contest of sorts, brutal as it is.
[ Survival based on performance for entertainment is a form of cruelty that isn't unheard of, yet applied to a general population? This is new territory for Dion. ]
I'm concerned for those who have begun with less.
no subject
He crosses his arms and leans his weight back on his heels. This is no contest. Contests have clear and defined rules. There are end goals in contests. This? This is a farce. A death game. Cruel and unusual. ]
As am I.
[ That probably didn’t need stating considering his previous offer. But how much does he say? ]
Moreover, I find myself… concerned for those who have no means to “entertain”. Really, that’s such a loose word to use one would think there to be plenty of ways to do so. But I… well, I have my doubts about that.
[ Frankly Dimitri has large doubts about this entire system. ]
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Rather, its doom seemed a foregone conclusion. Considering the state of his world when last he saw it, the notion of simply giving up and closing one's eyes to the inexorable march toward their own doom is unthinkable. Yet here they are. Here all of this is.
He frowns as though he's bitten into something surpassingly bitter. ]
I can scarce imagine what brought them to this point. [ Try as he might. Dion has known war, known battle for so much of his life, but what meaning is there in struggling merely to amuse callous onlookers? ] Perhaps all we can do is aid those who struggle to impress.
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That is what I had decided to dedicate my efforts to. [ He shakes his head. ] Still, that doesn’t solve the issue of if their points hit zero. Nor does it address the very fact that some time from now their world will not exist and all the lives we see will be snuffed out…
[ Knowing they are just visitors here and are meant to leave well enough alone… He’s grappling and finding he can’t just sit by and accept it. Dimitri grips his arms, crossed as they are. ]
If this fate can befall our homes should we not try and help them? If only to learn how to save our own?
[ Dimitri knows his own caring goes further than just saving his own world, but perhaps it will be easier to convince others to help if he frames it as thus? He isn’t sure, he is, after all, just beginning here in this new realm of possibilities. ]
no subject
Still yet, it's a bitter thought to swallow. ]
Perhaps this is the fate of a world with no worthy champion... Or none willing to fight for it.
[ If the universe is so vast, it's curious to him that so few of them are selected for this. And if that really is what this all is, then why him? Why not any more worthy soul? Dion only finds himself with more questions the longer he thinks on the circumstances, and he has little by way of answers. ]
But I suspect there must be some vital difference we've yet to understand, one way or another.
[ Otherwise, why would they not be instructed to help these people? ]
no subject
Certainly. We are newcomers in very foreign territory, it makes sense that we would be lacking [ a lot of ] information and context.
[ A measured breath, two, as Dimitri scans the alleyway. He’s quiet a moment, like he is chewing on something. It is all a lot to take in- he can’t go charging in recklessly. His world depends on
a monster likehim- he needs to be cautious. Calculated.…But what of this world? Dimitri’s people need him, but don’t these people need someone too? Don’t they deserve a chance? ]
I just… [ a soft sigh ] How are we supposed to stand here, watch this devastation, and do nothing to help?
[ Everyone he interacts with that does not have an Etrayan ear piece is going to die. Every last one of them. How can your heart not break? ]
no subject
His companion is younger. Dion can tell this at a glance. At his age, doubtless he would have felt the same. Yet he has been through much, and while he feels for these people and their plight, his perspective is broader than it once was.
Whether for good or ill, he sees this is so. ]
Not knowing what methods may avail us, we can begin with buying others time. Lady Aurora did not tell me how long this world has, only that its end is inevitable. Was it not the same for you?
[ The ruin of his own world had been a looming threat. The familiarity isn't lost on him. Even so, someone has to be willing to fight, as they had been. As people around them had been. ]
no subject
No— [ it comes out louder than he wants, so he brings himself down a notch ] That is to say, yes. [ a sigh ] Yes, that is what she told me as well. And when I asked if she could use the same Warp magic that brought us here to evacuate the denizens of this world… She insisted she could not.
[ It’s not a battle and Dimitri shouldn’t think of it as such. It’s more of a natural disaster; an overwhelming force of nature destroying everything in its path. That is how he must conceptualize it.
But when a natural disaster hits you try and evacuate as many as you can, all of them if you could, did you not? ]
no subject
Here and now, it doesn't seem that they have an enemy to fight. At least, not one they are yet able to combat effectively, for there is no lone figure threatening this world, save perhaps time itself. As to Aurora's capabilities, they know precious little. What Dion does know is that he finds himself whole and uninjured and he lacks any explanation for this. ]
Perhaps Lady Aurora's resources may only extend so far. [ Dion suggests this, not knowing anything at all about what limitations Aurora may have. She sent them here, she has the means to do this, but she may lack the means to bring back more people than she has sent. ] I know no power that could place us in another world entirely, but its cost could not be modest.
[ For such a feat, the toll must be high. This one thing doesn't number among Dion's many doubts. ]
It seems we must do what we can with what we have.
no subject
Hmm... I am also unfamiliar with a spell of such strength. Although, we do have warp magic in my world, but no where near this great length. Once the spell is used in its entirety it takes time to be able to cast it again. But again, nothing so fantastical as this many people at once...
[ He fears he is rambling. ]
However, I do recall a newly made acquaintance telling me that Aye Eye, the class of being Lady Aurora is, have a special Program they must strictly adhere to. He made it sound as if they cannot physically deviate from such a thing.
no subject
If Aurora truly faces such a limitation, bound by the nature of her duties so deeply that she can't act out of bounds, Dion can understand. His own restrictions were ones he accepted for his people, but he can well imagine not being afforded a choice.
The threat had loomed over him more than once. ]
Then perhaps we need better understand that which we face here.
[ Armed with more information, perhaps they can come up with a solution of some kind. Even if they cannot, action is preferable over inaction. ]
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[ It seems they both are out of their depth here. Dimitri finds himself nodding grimly until he looks over to his alleyway companion. Alleyway companion…? Oh goddess, he hasn’t introduced himself. ]
Oh! Please accept my apologies; it seems I have been rather thoughtless today… [ he gives a tired smile and puts a hand to his chest ] My name is Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, crown prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. It’s been a pleasure to make your acquaintance.
no subject
So he straightens, squaring his shoulders, and mirrors Dimitri's gesture. ]
Likewise. Dion Lesage, prince of the Holy Empire of Sanbreque.
[ Notably not its crown prince, though now he is all that remains of his father's line. There had been talk around the Hideaway regarding whether he would succeed him in light of that, but Dion never expected to see such a day. He still doesn't, truthfully. ]
Please, call me Dion.
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Dimitri can't help but feel a genuine smile form on his face. ]
Dion. [ a firm nod ] Then, I must insist you call me Dimitri.
[ For some reason this similarity, this connection, it makes him think of a lighthouse, despite never having been at sea. ]
If you have need of anything I hope you can rely on me.
no subject
[ Dion agrees easily. It's only fair, and though their circumstances may differ greatly beyond initial commonalities, Dion sees a value in being addressed simply by name. Perhaps the same holds true for Dimitri for his own reasons. ]
You may call upon me as well. We are comrades, after all.
[ Given what they are already faced with, they may well have need of teamwork. Beyond that...it is only an impression, but he suspects Dimitri could use someone he can be frank with. Dion knows the importance of that as well. ]