TDM #1: WELCOME VISITORS

[calderamods]

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:

“The Tavernkeeper is awaiting your arrival downstairs.”

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…)

CHOOSE YOUR DESTINY

As the effects of your drink wear off, the Tavernkeeper speaks once more:

”It is time, my friends, for you to find your new homes.”

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.

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Comments

[mehanizovati]

They were generous shoving entire homes at us- unless you know a place closer that will allow us to use their stove the one I've been staying at should be sufficient.

[one as close to the library as he could manage in this strange sea place for obvious, surely not nerd related reasons. frankly he doesn't believe that property is given out so freely and easily, especially in a situation like this, but maybe he's a little jaded. maybe.

either way he watches pal go, realizing-] My name is Viktor. [maybe he should have started with that instead of teasing. whoops.]

[megatheorem]

[Palamedes pauses while stooped—] Oh, right.

[The "oh right" of a man who does not cook, and therefore did not consider taking these oysters home at all. He shrugs in the affirmative; yes, they can go to this guy's- Viktor's- place.

He finishes scooping shellfish and straightens back up, with possibly an audible joint crack. Ahem.]

And you are a gracious host, Viktor. I'm Palamedes. I'd shake your hand, but mine are- [mmmm...MMMM] -clammy.

[mehanizovati]

[to be entirely honest viktor's been a bit, hm, moody since getting here. it might have to do with the whole dying thing, it certainly has to do with the whole most definitely died in a bombing thing. a smidge to do with the unintentional murder thing. it brings a guy down, who would have thought.

regardless most days he's on the sullen side and today was a 'fuck it' sort of day, leading to wandering around for lack of anything better to do and finding a very scrawny, tall bag of bones wrestling with seashells. all of that to say it's actually been a while since he's laughed, at least without the drama of a bitter edge or something equally edgy.

so he's a little surprised when clammy manage to punch a bark of laughter out of him. he turns to regard pal as though he cannot believe what he's heard, shaking his head as he starts towards their destination.]

Are sea puns a passion or was that an unfortunate stumble? [as if this bitch didn't laugh about it.]

[megatheorem]

[Well, Palamedes is going to consider that a win, insofar as making strangers laugh is an innate victory. It kind of is, which might be the high of not being camped out in the back of Camilla's skull anymore pulling its influence, but!

Well! Here he is! He flashes Viktor a grin and a shrug, hefting his bucket of oysters. It's heavier than he thought it would be while he was scooping them in, so if he has to pick a few back out and put them back down, ah... don't watch him do that.

He's coming along, though.]

I'd call it a fortuitous moment, actually. I don't get out to the sea very often.

[This is his, mm, second time? Technically? He's been around bodies of water, certainly.]

[mehanizovati]

[alas, no one here has the muscles to be helpful. viktor vaguely considers picking up some oysters just to carry in his pocket but that would involve bending either his back or knees and well... no thanks. he gets the feeling if he made himself immobile with Pain palamedes would probably not be capable of carrying him to safety or help. just a hunch there.]

I doubt many people get out to a sea like this very often, unless all the other worlds that apparently exist have far more underwater libraries and seashell houses than I would have guessed.

I admit I am fond of the library part. [fun ocean surprise.]

[megatheorem]

[pocket oysters also sounds gross, stick to bucket oysters]

I doubt it. I'd love to know how they got it down here, and what they're using to keep it dry.

[He knows it's Magic, yes, that much is obvious, but can he see the magical schematics, please? Is that so much to ask? Gosh. There's a noticeable uptick in his enthusiasm as they talk about the library, though, even as he toddles along with the heavy bucket.]

The moisture in the air down here must be astronomical, but a cursory look through some of their collection doesn't suggest water damage is even a concern. My hypothesis is some kind of air filtration-slash-dehumidifier system, magical or otherwise, to keep it in such good condition without a full hermetic seal.

[Now, is Viktor a Nerd nerd, or does he just like books,] What do you think?

[mehanizovati]

[viktor's first thought is 'magic,' for obvious reasons, though when pal starts going off on Nerd viktor glances over. not surprised exactly, this stick man was clearly not getting by on his big oyster bucket lifting muscles, but the casual mentions of magic and the sheer nerd levels?

promising. interesting, even.] If there is a system beyond the use of magic it must be at a technology level far beyond anything I've seen. The sheer amount of stable duct work needed to regulate a place like this couldn't be hidden so easily, barring the fact they'd be under constant maintenance from salt damage alone.

[he glances around to survey said area once again- yup, just looked like a baffling magic world from a story book. with mermaids. jayce would be thrilled if he was here and, also, not probably dead.]

There's the matter of pressure as well, the fact we did not, eh, 'pop' upon teleportation here is an impressive feat. I've worked on transportation that uses teleportation magic before and the logistics of sudden altitude drops? Gruesome. Ruined a great many test fruits those days.

[megatheorem]

[Ohoho, a Nerd's nerd, confirmed. Palamedes would carry any number of heavy buckets to listen to an infodump about salt damage and pressure, this is simple truth. He nearly fumbles the bucket he's clutching onto right now in pure nerd delight. Aha--]

I'd have thought we'd be crushed, rather than popped. Then again, teleportation is not in my wheelhouse. Maybe those portals out of the tavern have pressure regulation baked into their magic?

[An emphasis on keeping the tedious work behind the scenes, to make the place run smoothly in an "effortless" way? Probably not as efficient as it could be, if so. He shifts the bucket around to tilt his head and use his shoulder to push his glasses up, since he will absolutely drop it if he lets go with even one hand.]

As for maintenance, whatever is taking care of this place is well-hidden. You'd expect to see automation, at least...

[Hmm!] Well, I'd love to hear more about fruit exploding.

[mehanizovati]

You would think, and yet the arcane does love to twist the natural to suit it's needs. I'll draw you a graph. [who wouldn't want a very intricate graph of how magical bullshit disturbed and reversed the pressure build up in a bunch of fruits? normal people, that's who.

pal says he wants to hear about it though. nerd recognizing nerd.]

That is what I was thinking- if there were any technology involved there would be far more of a foot print, and magic? Would not runes and channels to control the flow of the arcane need meticulous upkeep? Do they have mages casting spells consistently, or did they imbue the power into items the layman may not recognize? Did they hide it?

And they are so open with it, if so. Is there no regulation? A far more open minded world in that matter.