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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
She shoots a brief glance at her hand, then looks back up with a smile meant to cover for it.]
Prudent. It's always best to hold some healthy suspicion against those who've kidnapped you.
no subject
( just the sort of thing someone might do, for instance, to lower one's guard—
but how much lower does it need to be than how exposed and vulnerable she feels, her magic not even a glimmer of moonlight? to what end, all of it. if she could turn off the part of her brain that is constantly trying to untangle such puzzles she'd be a different woman altogether. )
What do you last recall? Before we were here.
no subject
We had just begun traversing the Shadow-cursed Lands. [Which makes the absence of Lady Shar's presence all the more stark, really.] We'd made it to an inn, though I suppose the term could be used lightly...
no subject
another of reithwin's little mysteries. more of them will go unsolved than not, even now.
even, because— )
I remember, ( carefully, considering the deliberate amnesia, ) further than that. And I don't recall you disappearing from Last Light, either.
( she isn't drawing conclusions, yet; only setting down observations. )
no subject
Yes. And then we spoke to the Harper. Jaheira, [she says, testily.] Would you like me to go over the conversation in detail?
no subject
No, no. You haven't been as far as Moonrise? Spoken with the Thorms?
( she could be more specific, surely, cite happenings that feel less distant to her, but ... perhaps that's not wise. she's feeling out the shape of a thing, the implications of it. certainly, shadowheart has her share of absent memories, but if they don't know what then they at least believe they know why, the broadest possible strokes of how.
at what point would she have had the opportunity to dump anything else out of her mind, and what possible argument for the value of doing so in the middle of it all? no, it's not that.
and if it isn't that, then the natural conclusion to draw is that instead it is this, that something is happening to them tied to being here. )
no subject
[Well, they were almost swallowed. The Nightsinger, of course, would never let such a thing happen to one as devoted as Shadowheart. But they traveled together, and so she'd been forced to seek shelter with the rest of them—]
What do you mean, spoken with...?
no subject
The esteemed general has some scattered familial bonds, it's a long story.
( she frowns at her glass, tapping the edge of her thumb against the bottom of its base, restless, )
I don't think we left from the same moment, ( finally. ) I don't know how that can be, but I can think of no other reasonable explanation.
no subject
She leans in, frowning, and lowers her voice to a conspiratorial tone.]
You're suggesting these—leaders, whoever they are... have dominion over time?
no subject
( just—
the alternatives she can think of are absurd, maybe more absurd than some form of time magic being at work here. a great deal of magic is clearly already at work here, and she's not enjoying being reduced to so much less of her own capacity for the second time in all too recent memory. it isn't even the sense of time that worries her so much as
the sense of vulnerability. that they are distinct in some way, separate; bonds that had been built up through shared experiences made strange by only a few weeks difference. how that can unsettle. a gift, to arrive to companions, and a complication folded in with it to keep them off balance? off-guard. )