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calderamemes2024-06-02 04:27 pm
calderamods) wrote in calderamemes2024-06-02 04:27 pm
TDM #1: WELCOME VISITORS
TDM #1
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 a humanoid figure wiping down the bar, who smiles when they see you. They're familiar, but not, and you can't quite place their face. For some reason, however, their presence is comforting and warm.
“Welcome, Visitor. I'm sure you have a lot of questions.”
And you most certainly do.
SIT, STAY A WHILE
The Tavernkeeper offers more than just answers. This is a tavern after all, and what is a tavern without drinks?
"I know just what you need." They say, giving you little time to reply before some manner of drink (alcoholic or not) is set before you.
DRINK MENU
PEOPLE SKILLS: A deceptively simple looking cocktail that when imbibed makes one feel very social. Time to make friends and influence people!
A SPOT OF COURAGE: a tasty concoction so nice on the tongue it loosens it up. You suddenly want to reveal something about yourself!
SKY HIGH: a fizzy blue drink billowing with white smoke and served with a lemon slice as a garnish. It has been known to make the drinker giggly and sometimes even float a few feet off the ground.
CRYING FROG: a swirling bright green drink that makes you want to cry - or is it something else about this place that just makes you want to tear up…
SHARING IS CARING: a large, delicious frozen concoction that comes with two straws. You can't finish it alone! (No, like, you quite literally can't finish it alone.)
52 PICKUP: It's just whiskey. But for some reason it really puts you in the mood for cards, or a game of mahjong, maybe a couple rounds of checkers
QUICKSAND: The thickest chocolate milkshake you've ever had. The flavour is rich and delicious, but it moves like concrete. Sucking it up the straw takes effort. Makes the drinker mellow and lethargic. It's all good, man. Don't worry, be happy.
BEER: Beer? I thought you said bear! (animal transformation)
SEX ON THE BEACH: literally just sex on the beach, but also an aphrodisiac. Have fun! (The rooms upstairs are still open, for the record…)
A SPOT OF COURAGE: a tasty concoction so nice on the tongue it loosens it up. You suddenly want to reveal something about yourself!
SKY HIGH: a fizzy blue drink billowing with white smoke and served with a lemon slice as a garnish. It has been known to make the drinker giggly and sometimes even float a few feet off the ground.
CRYING FROG: a swirling bright green drink that makes you want to cry - or is it something else about this place that just makes you want to tear up…
SHARING IS CARING: a large, delicious frozen concoction that comes with two straws. You can't finish it alone! (No, like, you quite literally can't finish it alone.)
52 PICKUP: It's just whiskey. But for some reason it really puts you in the mood for cards, or a game of mahjong, maybe a couple rounds of checkers
QUICKSAND: The thickest chocolate milkshake you've ever had. The flavour is rich and delicious, but it moves like concrete. Sucking it up the straw takes effort. Makes the drinker mellow and lethargic. It's all good, man. Don't worry, be happy.
BEER: Beer? I thought you said bear! (animal transformation)
SEX ON THE BEACH: literally just sex on the beach, but also an aphrodisiac. Have fun! (The rooms upstairs are still open, for the record…)
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.
A NEW NORMAL
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. Home upgrades can be purchased via rewards.
THE 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.
OOC
Welcome to Caldera's first 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. There is a thread of all questions answered by the Tavernkeeper here, and if you have more, feel free to ask there for what would be offered ICly. For OOC questions, please direct them here.
All locations are available to be explored! Please mind that it is an active work in progress and will hopefully be finalized by June 8th.
We are looking at an opening date of July 1st with reserves opening on June 28th and and applications on opening day.
The TDM is game canon and all completed quests can be carried over once accepted into the game.
main navigation
All locations are available to be explored! Please mind that it is an active work in progress and will hopefully be finalized by June 8th.
We are looking at an opening date of July 1st with reserves opening on June 28th and and applications on opening day.
The TDM is game canon and all completed quests can be carried over once accepted into the game.
no subject
he winces when he looks over at him, knowing he likely worried for those additional five minutes, but it took longer than expected to lose them, especially when they herded him up to the Skyfall Docks and nearly cornered him.
holding up his rope-burned palms, knowing he is unable to hide them from him, he laughs. ]
I may have underestimated their tenacity, but they underestimated my willingness to do something idiotic. Maybe it was the rude gesture?
[ but he is in one piece and sans the wig, which he is certain was harvested from some sort of very smelly animal. he can still smell it even though he made sure to ditch it and the cloak shortly after losing the group. ]
Apparently he is universally disliked, or so my unwitting accomplices informed me after pulling me onboard the airship. [ he kindly leaves out the fact that he thought he was going to drop out of the sky and that he thinks he may have aggravated his shoulder during the ordeal. ]
I suppose I should return this? [ he reaches into his pocket and pulls out both the trinket and the wallet, sliding them into one of his hands as he leans over and nudges their foreheads together. ]
Forgive me for being late. Now that I know what I’m dealing with, I can adjust the time accordingly.
no subject
he's never late.
those five minutes are absolute agony. winslow sits hunched, eyes never leaving the door, barely blinking, barely breathing, and his inhale shakes so hard it almost rattles once branlon does walk through the door.
he's alive, and that's what matters. he's alive because winslow can't see ghosts here and he can see him right in front of him, corporeal and not semi-transluscent and he can reach out and touch him, which he would have been able to anyway but does nonetheless, his hand dropping to rest on his knee like he's testing, like he's making sure.
he's barely listening to what branlon has to say, just looking at him with a strangely far-away gaze as he works himself back down from the precipice.
finally he seems to snap out of it when their foreheads touch and he lets out another shaky little breath, eyes closing as he nudges in closer, fingers of that free hand curling around the items that've been returned to him. ]
I—
[ he swallows. swallows again. nods. ]
Sorry. Sorry, I'm still— I have to get used to— I'm so glad you're alright.
[ there are relieved tears biting at the backs of his eyes, but he doesn't let them fall. ]
no subject
Winslow..
[ they may not fall but his entire demeanor has him hooking a foot around the leg of his chair to angle it towards him. the way he talks is slow and deliberate because, while he sees him coming out of his fit, he is still lingering. he approaches this in the same manner he does when he finds himself haunted by a memory, by gently lulling him out of his unease with the best weapon he has—his voice.
to drive the point home, he cups either side of his face and murmurs a series of reassurances, fingertips brushing against his cheeks to ground him again. it’s not dream, he is actually here, and he is not going anywhere without him. ]
You can doubt this place, but never doubt me. If I tell you I am going to be somewhere, I will be there no matter what. It could have been a small army and I still would have found my way here, albeit later than I would have liked.
[ once he is certain his voice has reaches him, he sets his hand atop of the one resting against his knee to give it a squeeze. ]
Why are you apologizing? Of course I’m alright, oh ye of little faith, I had someone very important waiting for me. Have you seen him?
[ one last attempt to ground him before he draws that hand up, to press a kiss to the back of it. at this point the humor has left his face and the only thing remaining is the adoration from before, along with the warmth that came from hearing Winslow tell him he loved him so earnestly.
fondly: ]
Are you alright?
no subject
I should've trusted more. I'm sorry. I just need to get back into my old skin.
[ when things were easy and certain. he smiles though, at the admonishment for apologizing, reaching up to brush a strand of hair out of his face. ]
I got used to apologizing.
[ a strange thing to say, but he doesn't linger on it and instead huffs an almost laugh, tipping forward to steal a kiss. ]
Don't tell me you've started to go blind like that old bastard, because I'm right here in front of you.
[ then, with a decisive nod: ]
Yes. I'm alright. I'd like to figure out where we'll be staying, I think.
god they’re gross lmao
[ aaand there he goes apologizing again. it has him reaching out to grab his chin again, to turn his face so he can really get a proper look at him. it’s more than obvious he is searching his face for something.
instead of the oftentimes violent Branlon he has grown accustomed to, this one carefully takes up both of his hands and looks him in the eye. he never raises his voice or sneers at him, but his smile is almost sympathetic. ]
Stop apologizing, Winslow. You may have gotten used to it but you’ve never had anything to apologize to me for as far as I’m concerned. Nothing.
[ the comment about Harold get a snort of laughter out of him after he returns the kiss and he lingers. ]
I’m thirty-five, not ancient, I— [ he was about to say he has several years to go until he reaches that point but he catches himself. thirty-five years is all he will be given. he managed a quick enough save, at least. ] —can’t believe you would lump me in with Harold.
Well, then! [ he rises from his seat, bows and offers him his hand, like a gentleman about ready to sweep his dance partner off their feet. ] Would you fancy going on an adventure with me?
absolutely disgusting smh
so he does snap to attention when he's told to stop apologizing, nodding. it's nice to hear, and he'll need to hear it many more times before it sticks for real, but it still makes him happy. ]
He's younger than me and I called him that, darling. Old has nothing to do with age. [ wry. but still, he's mollified by the returned kiss, eyes lidding. ] You're the one that pretended you couldn't see me, so that's what you get.
[ he hops to his feet by tugging himself up via branlon's hand, only letting go so that he can do a cat-like stretch before looking up at him, hands coming to rest at his shoulders and drumming against them. ]
I think I wouldn't be myself if I said no. I'd love to go on an adventure with you.
adds onto the filth
[ he drops his hands to his hips, fingers kneading into the tender skin. while tapping out an unheard melody, he sways with him, imagining it’s been quite a while since he danced with him. ]
Well, then, where shall we adventure to? The stars, the sea, the hills? The sky is the limit and the choice is in your very capable hands.
[ just as long as the place he chooses has a bed because dear god, he has a need. catching one of his hands, he spins him around and catches him to pull him flush when he faces forward again. ]
Whatever it may be, it’ll be ours.
[ are people staring at them? probably. does he give a shit? absolutely not, they are the only two here as far as he is concerned right now. ]
no subject
I could never forget your ruses. You still get teased for it. Though you are right. As always.
[ he leans into the grip easily, a familiar flush beginning to dust his cheeks. his arms lift just a little more to wrap around his neck, hand bracing gently at his nape to let his fingertips brush through the very ends of his hair, expression nothing short of adoring.
and the sway is nice, it is, but he also doesn't care that people are looking at them because he hops up easily once again, legs around his waist and forehead pressing to his as he hooks his ankles to keep his grip. he's even more athletic than before, which is a bit of a feat. don't worry about it. ]
I want to stay in the sky. [ quieter, a whisper: ] I want to steal an airship, but that can come later. [ and back to his normal tone: ] Most of all, I just want to be with you. So let's get out of here and take our place to stay.
no subject
As always? Darling, never tell a man that he is always right, it will go to his head and he will become incorrigible. I’ll settle for right most of the time, however.
[ ah, there is the man he remembers, the flush is a most welcome guest. while adjusting his arms to support him under his backside, he leans over to press a series of kisses to one cheek, then his nose and finally to the other cheek to map out the color in his face.
it has been such a short while since he saw him last but, even with all the beauty around them, nothing takes his breath away quite like he does. in fact, it appears he is taking a moment to savor just that, eyes lingering on his as he allows the silence to persist. he would be content, he thinks, to never take on another job again if he could just hold him like this. finally, he lets out an exhale. ]
Do you know how beautiful you are? The beauty of this utopia pales in comparison, I hope you are thoroughly prepared to be reminded of that. I’d give up everything here for five more minutes of this. Just holding you, knowing you’re in my line of sight. What more can a thief want when he has already stolen the ultimate prize? Your heart.
[ he’ll meet this whisper with one of his own, nudging their foreheads together. ] Then the sky is yours—ours, perhaps we should let the heat from your last mark die down before we set our eyes on an airship. But, if that’s what you want, you know I won’t be against it.
[ when he notices someone staring at them he pauses, tilts his head to look at them and raises his brows once to silence them with one of his roguish smiles. then his attention is brought back to Winslow as he starts for the door with his prize in tow, stealing kisses occasionally. ]
I’m yours, I always have been. To the sky, then.