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calderamemes2026-02-01 08:55 am
calderaevents) wrote in calderamemes2026-02-01 08:55 am
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TDM #11
ARRIVAL
It happens in an instant. A heavy weight in your gut, a trembling of your limbs, the world spins and you barely have time to register that you're falling before you lose consciousness. And when you awaken, it's not where you were last. Dark, unadorned oak walls surround you in a tiny room, the only furniture the bed you are currently resting upon, and the bedside table with a folded piece of parchment resting atop it that simply reads:
As you exit you find others like yourself emerging from the surrounding rooms. You are indeed in a tavern, but there is no hustle and bustle one might think to hear in such a place. The only person down on the main floor is--
Not who any expect.
Due to popular demand, the starter tavern and the drinks provided are available to in game characters via a portal accessible only to those with a faction gem.
DRINK MENU
TIRAMISU TWIST A coffee and cocoa-kissed martini that calls upon friendly little wisps of elemental light that cling to the drinker and occasionally coo like a dove. Each bears the name of the drinker's loved one written on its 'body', and come in larger sizes the closer the drinker feels to the keeper of the name.
PASSIONFRUIT BLOOM A chilled, sweet indulgence topped with flowers. The drinker finds themselves coughing up flowers on a temporary basis. Those with hidden or otherwise unrequited feelings may find themselves with a more intense onset of this strange effect.
WINTER'S BREATH BELLINI Sweet with strawberry and tangy with peach, this treat will cool you down. It cools you down a little TOO much. The drinker feels increasingly colder until they seek or receive the touch of another. Best huddle up for warmth!
WIND WISP SPARKLER This prosecco-forward drink is refreshing, and you feel lighter than air... literally. Drinkers begin to float for a limited time. Watch the ceiling.
CARAMEL CADENZA Sweet and smooth, this confectionary shot warms the belly and puts a song in your heart! Drinkers feel like singing to anyone who will listen... or to someone very special.
PASSIONFRUIT BLOOM A chilled, sweet indulgence topped with flowers. The drinker finds themselves coughing up flowers on a temporary basis. Those with hidden or otherwise unrequited feelings may find themselves with a more intense onset of this strange effect.
WINTER'S BREATH BELLINI Sweet with strawberry and tangy with peach, this treat will cool you down. It cools you down a little TOO much. The drinker feels increasingly colder until they seek or receive the touch of another. Best huddle up for warmth!
WIND WISP SPARKLER This prosecco-forward drink is refreshing, and you feel lighter than air... literally. Drinkers begin to float for a limited time. Watch the ceiling.
CARAMEL CADENZA Sweet and smooth, this confectionary shot warms the belly and puts a song in your heart! Drinkers feel like singing to anyone who will listen... or to someone very special.
CHOOSE YOUR DESTINY
As the effects of your drink wear off, the Tavernkeeper speaks once more:
You are compelled to walk through the only door leading out of the tavern, finding yourself not outside, but in a deep black, seemingly endless room with five portals arranged in a circle. As the last of you leave and the door closes behind you, gone when you look back again and replaced with nothing but that black void, three of the portals illuminate:
The first portal is surrounded by an almost blinding light, prismatic rainbows shining brightly in the dewy air outside of the tavern. A soft breeze may gently caress you, pulling you toward it. The portal seems to lead to a city in the clouds, airships and winged beings of all sorts soaring through the skies. Of the little bits of visible land, much of it boasts giant waterfalls that look like clouds melting into the land below. The portal calls to those who crave independence and freedom; and especially to anyone that wishes to find the strong bond of a family not forged in blood.
The second portal is encircled by a fairy ring of spotted white capped mushrooms, the faint scent of damp stone and rich earth wafting from within the faint green glow. Peering inside, one can see a sprawling harbor city of gray hewn stone, a melting pot of humanoid beings going about their day, and beyond, rolling green farmland and cottages clustered in small villages. This portal is destined for those who crave stability and solid ground beneath their feet. A simple life, an adventurous one, and everything in between can be found within.
The last portal is adorned with shells and seaweed, the glow of blue around it catching on droplets cascading down the circular opening. Beyond it you see a city housed inside a massive bubble deep under the ocean, spiraling towers encrusted with coral, and a variety of different creatures mingling about the streets. Outside of that bubble, merfolk swim, a massive squid engulfs the view from the portal as it smoothly glides through the water, and schools of fish disperse as it passes. A sanctuary in the sea that calls to those with a hunger for knowledge and a desire to aid those in need. Or perhaps it is the mystery that beckons you - the lure of the unknown in the depths that bids you explore it.
Upon following the pull of the breeze through the first portal, you are thrust into the beauty of a lively city that goes by the name of Heaven's Bow. Much of this main city feels exactly as you would expect on a city below, but there are clouds surrounding every direction you look. The walls of buildings are made with light-colored limestone, and buildings are generally built up to heights made even more grandiose by their position in the sky.
The Skyfall Docks are the first thing you notice, boasting hundreds of airships sailing in and out across the clouds with shouts that accompany a typical port city. Just outside is a fantastic market with goods not only from the other regions of Caldera, but from what some shopkeepers claim are other worlds--items sold or left behind by Visitors. Almost anything can be found in the markets if one is willing to look hard enough. Transport to other locations throughout the sky and even to the land or sea can be found here.
If the docks are too lively for you, you may instead find yourself roaming the underbelly of Heaven's Bow and finding brothels and gambling parlors filled with the promise of pleasure and fortune. The guild house for the Sylphs can be found here as well, giving out quests and training to prospective adventurers and guards alike--though none of them seem concerned with the illicit activities that surround them. Perhaps the freedom the Sylphs boast of extends to what others may deem an undesirable activity.
But most curious of all, you find a shimmering opal gemstone in your hand. When placed anywhere on the body, it will transform into a piece of jewelry with the gemstone set in the center.
If it was the second portal that called to you, you will find yourself in the busy city of Grey Ward, with its cobblestone streets and sturdy grey stone buildings. You are in the heart of the city, the Glass Market, so named for the colorful stained glass windows of the surrounding buildings. The scent of cooking food and the sound of barkers fills the air; watchful guards keep an eye out for pickpockets and thieves, and citizens go about their day. From here, one can investigate the rest of the city: the Sundown Docks, where both sea and sky faring skips transport people and goods. The Soot Spire, home of inventors and engineers. The Hearthstill, the main residential area. The Downs, a smaller residential area for those with less means.
Outside the city walls, one can explore acres of farmlands to the east and west, or follow Terra's Pass to the less settled areas, but take care. Past the Skyward Range, out in the smaller burrows and villages, the influence of the city guard diminishes quickly, and you'll have to keep your wits about you. Bandits along the road are always a risk, and the wildlife are less controlled by regimented hunting.
In your hand is a gemstone, a brilliantly green emerald that, when placed anywhere on the body, will transform into a piece of jewelry with the gemstone set in the center.
If the last portal beckoned you through it, you find yourself within that bubble covered city beneath the sea, the city of Salt Spire. Your ears pop with the change in pressure, and the smell of the salty sea fills your nostrils. All around you buildings made of dark stone encrusted with coral and seagrass tower high above your head, the backdrop outside the dome a deep blue, seemingly endless sea filled with fish and merfolk and all other manner of creature swimming through the water. You stand in the heart of it all, surrounded by people with gils on their necks and scales upon their vibrantly colored skin, all of whom seem intrigued by your arrival. You have many options of where to visit in the city under the sea, but where oh where will you go first?
The Salt Spire Library is right before you, an impossibly large building housing thousands upon thousands of books of all genres. Fiction, non-fiction, romance and mystery and all between. You may even find books from your world and others! Oddly enough though, no Calderan history books are to be found, and if you ask for them, the librarians and locals all choose to ignore your questions.
If scholarly pursuits aren't to your interest currently, perhaps a trip to Bluetide Market would be more your style? The marketplace is host to every manner of shop one might ever need: artisans of all varieties, apothecaries and healers in the Shimmer Quarter, the most in fashion undersea clothing shops, food stalls, and all between can be found in Bluetide. There are also the Tideshore and Fogbottom docks on either end of the city. The former allows transport to the surface via large, magical bubbles for those that cannot hold their breath or make the swim themselves yet. The latter allows people to venture further into the sea. Those without their underwater abilities are offered rebreathers for travel that last for four hours before needing to be replaced.
In your hand is a gemstone, a shining sapphire that, when placed anywhere on the body, will transform into a piece of jewelry with the gemstone set in the center.
Visitors in all starter cities are offered a standard home with basic necessities provided (your choice in design, etc.) that can house 1-4 people if they so choose. If you aren't ready for a permanent home yet, there is an inn in Grey Ward, where accommodations and food are free for Visitors.
NOT YOUR REGULAR TAVERNKEEPER
The usual Tavernkeeper, a calming presence with a familiarity you cannot place, is shockingly absent for the first time since Visitors arrived in Caldera. Behind the bar, instead, is a tall and imposing figure — bright silver eyes like storm clouds, wild hair that crackles with electricity, the smell of ozone in the air. To those familiar with the Storm God, leader of the Sylph, they know this is Nymion, the arrogant, cocky Star God who rose to power in the stead of the previous ruler after her death. It has recently been revealed that he is an auditor of sorts, sent to assess Caldera's worthiness to remain in the universe, here to judge his fellow Star Gods—and the Visitors themselves—on their performance.
Here, now, he seems to be... pleasant, for all Nymion could be described as pleasant. This could be a trick. Some sort of process his audit demands… or he could be bored and looking to entertain himself. It is difficult to tell.
"Morning, sunshine," he greets, his voice thunderous, deep and rumbling like an oncoming storm. His grin is cocky, his tone easy — he is a man who knows he is powerful enough to destroy everything there ever was or ever could be on this planet with a snap of his fingers, a gust of godly wind, and lightning. "Care for a drink? Your usual Tavernkeeper is... indisposed," he says, perhaps ominously, perhaps simply to toy with you. "I can answer all your questions. Don't worry." He winks.
Here, now, he seems to be... pleasant, for all Nymion could be described as pleasant. This could be a trick. Some sort of process his audit demands… or he could be bored and looking to entertain himself. It is difficult to tell.
"Morning, sunshine," he greets, his voice thunderous, deep and rumbling like an oncoming storm. His grin is cocky, his tone easy — he is a man who knows he is powerful enough to destroy everything there ever was or ever could be on this planet with a snap of his fingers, a gust of godly wind, and lightning. "Care for a drink? Your usual Tavernkeeper is... indisposed," he says, perhaps ominously, perhaps simply to toy with you. "I can answer all your questions. Don't worry." He winks.
CRYSTAL CLEAR
During the month of February, Caldera is abuzz with juicy gossip about budding romances.
Did you hear? Sera was seen holding hands with Morgan!
You will not believe what he confessed to me...
I saw them making off into the woods together! It was right by that strange new pond!
All the rumors center around a heart-shaped pond that has appeared in Dusklight, a serene locale up in the clouds where you can always see the stars, not just in the sky but seemingly floating as glowing crystals in the air above you. Couples, friends, and families skate on the icy pond or sit on benches around it, holding hands, harmonious. As you step onto the path wrapping around the body of water, wisps of sparkling snow blow past you, bringing with them a strange feeling. You get the slow, creeping urge to confess something to whoever you are with. This is not an upsetting feeling; in fact, you feel almost giddy with excitement to reveal something in your heart that you've been keeping from them. You may want to share something from your past you rarely speak of, knowing that in this place, it is more likely to be well-received. Whether your connection is platonic or romantic, now is the perfect time to deepen it. If your feelings are romantic, you may also have the urge to kiss them. Don't be shy, now...
Did you hear? Sera was seen holding hands with Morgan!
You will not believe what he confessed to me...
I saw them making off into the woods together! It was right by that strange new pond!
All the rumors center around a heart-shaped pond that has appeared in Dusklight, a serene locale up in the clouds where you can always see the stars, not just in the sky but seemingly floating as glowing crystals in the air above you. Couples, friends, and families skate on the icy pond or sit on benches around it, holding hands, harmonious. As you step onto the path wrapping around the body of water, wisps of sparkling snow blow past you, bringing with them a strange feeling. You get the slow, creeping urge to confess something to whoever you are with. This is not an upsetting feeling; in fact, you feel almost giddy with excitement to reveal something in your heart that you've been keeping from them. You may want to share something from your past you rarely speak of, knowing that in this place, it is more likely to be well-received. Whether your connection is platonic or romantic, now is the perfect time to deepen it. If your feelings are romantic, you may also have the urge to kiss them. Don't be shy, now...
QUESTBOARD
Settled in? Good. It's time to make your way to the Questboard located in every city in numerous, easy to access locations. That is, if you want to make any kind of impact on the world or just get some Bones for anything you might wish to purchase. Visitors are given a very small stipend in which to survive every month, but all it does is keep you fed and housed. These quests will assure you greater wealth, and they're the main reason you're here: each finished quest helps the Calderans fix their shattering world.
Quests can be accepted at the questboard via magically signed parchment upon the board. Just sign your name to accept and the paper will be whisked away... somewhere. You're not actually sure. Probably nothing to concern yourself with.
Once quests are completed, earned Bones will be dropped off at the character's residence by Bonita, the mysterious artisan who has supposedly handcrafted every Bone circulating in Caldera. Please do not speak to her, she startles easily.
Quests can be accepted at the questboard via magically signed parchment upon the board. Just sign your name to accept and the paper will be whisked away... somewhere. You're not actually sure. Probably nothing to concern yourself with.
Once quests are completed, earned Bones will be dropped off at the character's residence by Bonita, the mysterious artisan who has supposedly handcrafted every Bone circulating in Caldera. Please do not speak to her, she startles easily.
OOC NOTES
Welcome to Caldera's 11th TDM! All characters awaken in a strange tavern with nothing save the clothes on their backs, all of their powers stripped, and a piece of parchment directing them downstairs to the Tavernkeeper. However, the resident Sylph leader, Nymion, has taken it upon himself to answer all questions here. You are welcome to begin a thread with him.
◾For OOC questions, please direct themhere.
◾All locations are available to be explored!
◾The TDM is game canon and all completed quests can be carried over once accepted into the game.
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◾For OOC questions, please direct themhere.
◾All locations are available to be explored!
◾The TDM is game canon and all completed quests can be carried over once accepted into the game.