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redstringtheories2021-09-05 08:32 am
TDM #3
(cw: potential for severe disorientation/vertigo, claustrophobia, arachnophobia, body horror)
It happens in the blink of an eye. You may have been asleep. You may not have. You may have stepped through a door or turned a corner. You may have seen a flicker of something at the corner of your vision and turned to look. Or maybe you didn't.
It doesn't matter. What matters is that you find yourself somewhere entirely new and entirely unfamiliar. The arrival point is not always the same. (If you're lucky, it might be a canteen or an open office. If you're not, well... you aren't claustrophobic, are you? Or arachnophobic. These ducts do seem to be a bit cobwebby.) There is no one waiting for you but you don’t seem to be alone, either. Even in a janitor’s closet or the bathroom, you’ll find at least one person who seems to be just as out of place as you are.
If characters have arrived in a location devoid of NPCs, they may want to work together to figure out what is going on... or to avoid their 'kidnappers.' If you’ve arrived in the middle of the entry foyer or the gym, there may well be a few people who startle a bit at your arrival and try to approach (or discreetly leave the room... where are they going?). Will you cooperate or fight? Do you even understand what they're saying? You might need to find a translator, if you’re not immediately willing to follow a stranger.
After characters follow their new hosts (or are forcibly taken in) there will be a limited tour and the chance to settle in at the ADI-provided housing. (Do you enjoy living with strangers? Well. It's a new situation to navigate, anyway.)
(cw: animal death, both human and animal butchery, implied cannibalism, potential for flesh/small limb removal)
Weird things happen in Dogtown, everyone knows it. The Apocalypse Disruption Initiative (ADI) is not above taking advantage of that to test out the waters for its newest arrivals. They're not looking to send anyone to their death, though. That's far too much paperwork, you'd been assured with a wink from the employee who'd directed you to the park trailhead. You've been left with another person. Maybe they're a new arrival, as well, or a more seasoned 'veteran.' Either way, you're together for the next while and you've been asked to find and record any paranormal activity in the park. You have your phones and any other equipment you might have brought with you. Those who succeed in documenting anything peculiar will receive a $100 reward to be used as they see fit.
This month characters who venture into Dogtown will eventually stumble across what seems to be an abandoned camp. Its usage is fairly obvious: the remains of a hunting camp. And remains really is the operative word, considering that whoever used the camp wasn’t particularly fastidious about cleaning up after themselves. There are bits of various animal carcasses strewn around and by the looks of things the prey of these hunters was quite varied. Not all of them are prey animals either.
Stepping into the camp seems to have an effect: anyone who passes over the threshold to investigate will find themselves powerfully driven to mark themselves - or their partner - with lines that seem to indicate where a butcher might cut. There are black, red, and white paint pens littered around the camp that are perfect for this exercise. As they proceed, they will get the sense that once the lines are completely drawn, something will be coming along to make use of them.
Staying too long after those marks are completed - either through curiosity or through some other force - will result in a sudden unconsciousness. And when you wake up? (If you wake up…) Well. It seems the butcher has returned and taken just a bit more flesh. At least the wound is properly dressed, though. Thank goodness for small mercies.
(cw: altered perceptions and unreality/hallucination, body horror, dissociation, wounds, cancer, stalking)
Something is wrong with the mirrors.
Everywhere around Gloucester - at ADI headquarters, in ADI housing, at Bonnie's Flophouse, even in the bathrooms of mundane businesses (and, presumably, the homes of the innocent and uninvolved), looking in the mirror has become...risky. It's not predictable; it doesn't happen every time and may or may not happen to any given person the same way twice, but look into the reflection and you may see something that should not be there.
Perhaps your own reflection has changed, a face (human or monstrous) you don't recognize looking back at you, eerily in sync as though it has every right to be your true reflection… or un-synced from your movements, smiling knowingly at your distress.
Or maybe you still see your own face, but something about your body is warped, wrong: a growth or a seeping wound you can't find on your own physical form but that exists glaring and insistent in your reflection and feels, somehow, as though it's there in phantom form.
Maybe it's a pair of eyes watching from over your shoulder, hiding in the shadows, peering at you from every mirror you pass. Is it watching you from your reflection in that window, too? Is it growing nearer?
Possibly there's nothing wrong with your reflection at all, but the reflection of the room behind you stretches and twists, a view into an impossible, broken world that leaves you dizzy and wandering, lost down an imagined maze of hallways or following a phantom figure until someone else can snap you out of it.
Something is wrong with the mirrors. Best not to look again, lest you find out what else they have to show you.
(cw: hallucination, hypersomnia, vehicular accidents, potential for injury)
The summer is fading, and businesses around Gloucester have taken note. Fall decorations go up, and even some very early Halloween decor is on sale. The air is crisper in the mornings and evenings, the ocean breeze just a bit stiffer. There also seems to be a new melody floating around the town, one that leaves people feeling fatigued, heavy. Did you hear a snatch of it near the docks? Something that's vaguely familiar to you, nostalgic, almost. Maybe it's more a memory?
That song or memory seems to grow stronger when approaching the graveyards scattered throughout Gloucester. So, too, does the fatigue. Wouldn't it be nice to just sit down and rest? To close your eyes and let every worry that troubles your mind be soothed into the quiet oblivion of sleep?
Those most affected might find themselves passing out, and they always seem to do it when they are putting themselves in the most danger. You might drop while crossing a busy street or while riding a bike or some other wheeled mode of transportation. Those who investigate will find that traffic accidents seem to have seen an uptick recently, associated with the onset of these haunting tunes. They seem to be focused on the graveyards, but there's nothing immediately apparent there that might be causing problems.
Drink lots of coffee, and be careful trying to do anything. Stepping outside could be the last thing you do.
- ARRIVAL (Sep 1 - 21): Two people will always arrive in the same general location together. Arrivals occur throughout the early month, not all on the same day or in the same place. Arrivals are not naturally fluent in English/other languages immediately upon arrival. Characters may attempt to evade capture, but they will eventually be snagged before they can leave the building. PC's already in-game are more than welcome to interact with and try to guide new PC's to get them oriented. Please refer to the Arrival page for details regarding the arrival and onboarding process.
- THE BUTCHER'S CAMP (Sep 1- 24): Characters will only encounter the camp once. Everyone will feel the compulsion to draw carving lines along their own skin or that of the person they're with. If they stick around for long enough, they will pass out and may not wake up again. Those who do wake up will find that a piece of their flesh is missing and the wound has been bandaged. Whatever is taken will be non-fatal, but it will likely be inconvenient (e.g., some part of their calf or forearm, perhaps a finger or toe). Once ADI is made aware of injuries happening, they will stop sending people to Dogtown for training and only send people with the understanding that this is a potentially dangerous mission. Please bear in mind that if a character dies in the TDM prompt, they are dead. A different version who doesn't have TDM memories may be apped in their place. Similarly, injuries will not magically disappear. If your character loses a chunk of themselves, it is gone unless they can find someone who might be able to magically heal them. No one at ADI will offer this service, just mundane medical assistance. Magical healing is reserved for fatal injuries given the price of it!
- MIRROR, MIRROR (Sep 1- 24): Characters may encounter a mirror effects multiple times, and may experience the same effect each time or different ones. As noted in the prompt, there is no apparent rhyme or reason to when any particular mirror exhibits any particular effect. Within the first week of the effects becoming known, ADI will cover all the mirrors within their headquarters and send out an advisory for characters to do the same in their homes. Characters who experiment and/or interview locals will, after a lot of legwork, be able to ascertain that the effects seem to be most concentrated on the west side of town, nearest the empty fields where the Fenix Down Extravaganza had set up their circus tents last month, with additional concentrations around ADI-affiliated buildings and Bonnie's Flophouse. Mirror effects will gradually grow less frequent over the course of the month and cease to occur after the 24th.
- HAUNTING TUNES (Ongoing Effect): The tunes will be oddly familiar to the character, even if they are not from modern Earth. There are currently no ill effects from the song apart from inducing fatigue in characters. They can fight it off with coffee/caffeine, or other things they'd typically use to wake themselves up, but that tiredness always returns. An examination of the graveyard will not turn up a specific source. It just seems to be something there.
Glenn Rhee | The Walking Dead (dusting him off for some voicetesting - will match style!)
[ Glenn was on a supply run in an abandoned supermarket when he finds himself in a room that looks nothing like the place he was supposed to be. He arrived in the canteen area, with a pistol in a holster on his hip and a machete sheathed away on the opposite side. There's sweat on his brow, old blood splatters on his clothes and he looks like he hasn't slept properly for a few days.
He approaches someone nearby, hand resting close to the machete handle. A precaution mostly, born out of the habit of having to deal with both the undead and the hostile living back home. ]
Hey. [ Should someone recognise his accent they'll be able to tell that he's from Michigan. ] Do you know where we are?
m͢i͢r͢r͢o͢r͢ m͢i͢r͢r͢o͢r͢
[ This place looked normal. Despite being pulled from his world, Glenn had yet to see any hordes of walkers roaming around or abandoned buildings. However, there's a feeling in the pit of his stomach that not everything is right. It's a feeling he can’t seem to shake off, even when he goes into local businesses and stops by the ADI headquarters. Oddly enough, it reminds him of that old video game he used to play – Silent Hill. That everything here was not as it seemed on the surface.
He went into the General's store to have a quick browse, despite not having anything to trade with. There was nothing weird about it, the store was like any kind of store you could find in small town America.
One part of the store has panes of glass set aside, presumably for window repair. Glenn gives it a passing glance as he walks down the aisle, but what he sees in the reflection of the glass is enough to make him stop in his tracks and take a closer look.
He could've sworn he saw the face of Noah, a friend he lost back home. His friend was calling out to him for help, arms outstretched as he was mercilessly torn apart by walkers. Glenn had never forgotten that day when Noah was trapped, and he couldn't save him; he had to watch his friend die a painful death. ]
I'm sorry. [ He whispers to himself, trying to keep his emotions in check. ] I should've saved you.
n͢e͢t͢w͢o͢r͢k͢
Man, it's been forever since I used a cell phone.
[Glenn doesn't elaborate on the reason why that is, but he follows up his message with:]
Is anyone else getting some Silent Hill vibes off this place or is it just me?
[Not everyone will get the reference.]
Arrival! (just oot and abooot?)
Yes. I know where you are.
[ When she finally learns how to brain. Is she being cautious? Yes! She's seen the gun and the big, fuck-off knife. Of course, she's being careful. ]
works for me!
[ He relaxes a little, but he doesn't move his hand. Glenn still wanted to be careful for the time being. Until he knows for sure that Kate isn't a threat. ]
So-?
[ Sorry, he's a bit impatient. ]
no subject
You maybe want to move your hand? That's a really big knife and I don't know you.
no subject
[ Looking mildly apologetic, Glenn quickly moves his hand away from the machete. ]
Sorry. Old habit.
no subject
like
more fog for that?
no subject
Probably.
I was talking more about the feeling this place gives me. I don't like it.
no subject
Evil mustaches on all the desk pictures and paintings or something
no subject
If you want a specific answer, I saw something weird in a window pane earlier. It was my friend - well, someone I lost. It's like his death was being played out in front of me and I couldn't do anything about it.
That's not normal.
no subject
As in right behind your reflection? But when you turned around it was gone, right?
no subject
Guessing the same thing happened to you?
no subject
Yeah, I saw somebody that tried to kill me. I almost took the head off of a bathroom stall.
( Granted, he's been experiencing progressively worsening hallucinations for years, but this one doesn't seem like it's him. Score one for not crazy, woo, hell yeah. )
no subject
I'd probably react the same way. But I don't know if a machete would knock the head off a stall - maybe it would get stuck in it.
[Realising how that sounds, he texts again. ]
The machete is used for killing the undead. Walkers.
no subject
( Jerry wanted to name it Lucille... Jack went with Ricardo instead. )
By walkers do you mean like zombies?
arrival. sup voice twin
...to stare down a dude holding a machete and bloodstains on his clothes.
cool. thanks, universe. keith scoots further back on the couch, grabbing hold of his bayard. it isn't activated or really even pointed menacingly at glen -- it's just in his hands. as a precaution. you know how it is. ]
Uh, woah. You want to let go of the machete first?
s'up!!
Glenn watches as the guy reaches for a weapon of his own - some kind of weird looking sword - not surprised that he's done that. ]
That depends. Are you gonna let go of your sword?
[ Why did this guy sound like him? ]
no subject
[ okay, so that wasn't a figment of his imagination. the guy really does sound eerily same-y and keith doesn't actually know what to do with this confirmation. it doesn't put keith more at ease though. ]
You want me to put my weapon away first. [ raised eyebrow is raised. ] Says the dude covered in blood. What were you even doing?
no subject
Okay. [ He holds up his free hand. ] I was on a supply run with my friends before I came here. We encountered some walkers - the undead, and had to take them down. It's their blood.
no subject
Zombies, you mean? [ mulls that over as he puts his own bayard away. he sits up straighter on the couch, giving the back of his head a rub. ] Don't think those exist in this reality.
[ .... or at least not yet. doesn't sound entirely out of the domain of one of the entities to create. ]
Sounds like you've had a rough time of it. [ sounds, looks, etc. ]
no subject
...Zombie? Is that what you call them? [ He asks, letting his hands fall down to his sides. The couch looks comfy, but he's not about to take a seat next to a guy he unintentionally threatened. ] I really hope they don't exist here.
[ Wherever 'here' was. ]
Yeah. It's been a rough couple of years. I'd give anything for the world to go back to normal.
no subject
[ if he sounds unsure, that's because he genuinely is. somehow the idea of having to explain zombies to a guy who's apparently come out of the zombie apocalypse was not anywhere on his radar of lifetime accomplishments.
but he furrows his brow a moment. keith wasn't really into zombies as a genre, cryptids and aliens were more his thing, but there's still enough of the lore that's seeped into the cultural miasma that after a moment, he adds much less uncertainly: ]
Wait, you're not bitten anywhere, are you?
[ he'll go back to being sympathetic in a second. this just seems like an important detail to have clarified?? ]