![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
FEBRUARY TDM.
● ● ● T D M . 0 5
… What are you willing to do to erase your regret from existence?
The words ring in your ears as in the darkness of your dream, an ocean-deep blue glow hovers in front of you. Transfixed, you reach out to it... only to hear a different voice, a distant echo of cruel laughter, and with a sudden certainty you know — whatever you’ve just agreed to has changed everything forever.
It is to this laughter that you wake, and as it fades and your heart slows into something resembling a normal tempo, you notice something you should have noticed immediately: you are not in your bed.
1.0 White walls, clinical yet clean, sparsely-furnished rooms. You may wake in one of three rooms: a room with only one bed, a room with two beds, or a room with four beds. Those waking up in rooms with more than one bed notice that they are very much not alone. Perhaps the other occupants of the room are still sleeping, dreaming the same dream as you just did, or a regular one after returning to the station just barely a week ago … or perhaps you wake to the other person in the room watching you.
What you do is entirely up to you: yell in surprise when you wake to someone staring at you? Or maybe you’ll try to sneak away before anyone notices you...
2.0 Those with life-threatening injuries find themselves awakening in the infirmary, in a regular hospital bed. Most of their injuries have been treated, and any lingering illnesses or conditions will have designated medicine bottles on the table next to the bed.
White curtains surround the bed on both sides, giving an illusion of privacy. But is that a rustling sound you hear? Some footsteps? Perhaps you’re not the only one in need of some medical attention... or you've attracted the attention of those with experience in medical aid, and they rush to your bedside, surprised about this sudden new patient.
It is not just for your injuries that you may want some company, but also for leaving the infirmary — you can’t stay there forever, after all, and will have to make your way through the hallways of the station to the living quarters, and claim a room and a bed there.
Once you’re up, you may notice there’s something in your ear: an earpiece that, when you become aware of it, quickly runs you through the instructions for how to use the network, a recorded message by a female voice that explains exactly why you’re here… and leaves you with a map of the station.
So what else is there to do but to explore? Best get to know what is now your new home.
3.0 When trying to decide where yo go, you may find your way to the armory, where you can try to work the machine there to make yourself a weapon — perhaps to replace one that didn’t come with you to the station… or maybe you want to be prepared for the future. The recently-returned team members will surely recommend having a functional weapon with you.
And speaking of weapons: to put it to good use, head to the training room, where the entire purpose is to provide you with a space to spar and train to your heart’s content!
4.0 After you’ve exhausted yourself training, it’s time to grab a bite. For that, you should head to the kitchen, which is equipped with all the basic appliances you might need, and ingredients for most regular dishes... and large amounts of chocolate. Weird.
5.0 A welcome reprieve to the cold, dark space that surrounds the characters can be found in the sunlight room. A skillful illusion surrounds anyone who steps inside the room: you can hear the trilling of birds, feel a light breeze caress your skin as you walk through a grass field. It seems that the illusion reflects the season — the leaves have fallen, a layer of white covers the ground, and the air is crisp and clean. If you follow the path, it leads to where a bridge rises over a brook that has now iced over — but maybe don't try your luck walking on it, as the ice may crack underneath your feet and you'll find yourself plunging into the freezing water.
Regardless of whether you like the wintery atmosphere, it is easy to forget you are in space at all. Perhaps that gives you comfort, or just makes you miss the real nature all the more.
6.0 If you’d rather choose tinkering over nature, the lab is guaranteed to provide you with some entertainment. Glass vials and jars of chemicals sit on shelves in a surprisingly beautiful display of colour on one side of the room, while the other side of the room contains stacks of boxes containing assorted equipment: cords, bolts, panels, buttons, gears, gadgets, gizmos, and thingamabobs. The downside is that the parts available seem to have no apparent method to their sorting. So get digging, and you may just find exactly what you need to make what you’ve always wanted to make!
7.0 If it’s items you’re lacking, though, some time after your arrival, the earpiece alerts you to a new message.
Indeed, the platform near the personal quarters is still whirring with power, and new items form neat piles on it. There’s clothes, shoes, dishware, skincare, books… even a couple of CDs, and a few cute stuffed animals. So sort through what there is and grab what you want, before someone else does!
Eventually, you’ll find yourself at the doors of the the simulation room — it has been equipped with a new simulation to take you through possible mission-like scenarios so it’s best to prepare yourself and see what it has in store for you.
8.0 The doors slide shut behind you and the room goes dark. Small pinpricks of light will start to build on each other until you’re surrounded by grey skies overhead and grassy green lawns, a row of old stone columns lining your vision. It seems you’re in a courtyard of some kind, but that’s not all. Something tugs at the hem of your sleeve or nudges at your leg, a warm presence that feels comfortable and ultimately very familiar. They look up at you, or maybe they meet your eye-level, a creature that varies in size, shape, colour, and form depending on what reflects you best. This creature, known as a compalion is a physical manifestation of your spirit or soul and will stay by your side on this journey.
You can stay here and get to know your compalion, or you can take your new companion and explore the campus. Because, if you do move forward past the line of columns (a hallway it turns out), you’ll find that the small cluster of buildings forms an academic campus of some kind.
a) They cannot go any further than a few yards away from their person; the further the distance, the more painful the separation will feel.
b) Your compalion will shift into one form throughout this simulation and can be any creature that best mirrors your personality.
c) They can be as small as a flea and as large as a small elephant; get creative!
d) Whether they speak to you in your native tongue is entirely up to you (some speak, some don’t)
e) Basically daemon rules apply.
9.0 While it might seem like fun to spend hours just exploring the old buildings with your compalion and any Orbers like you that you might bump into along the way, it’s important to remember that you have a goal to achieve: follow the clues and retrieve the orb. Your compalion might offer an idea or two for where to go, or it may just be voicing the thoughts in your head, but it’s not a bad thing to follow your heart (or your gut) as it were. You might find that the rooftops of the campus buildings are easily climbable to get a good vantage point of your location. (Just be careful not to slip and fall! The height from here is quite dangerous.) A clocktower stands proud in the distance among a cluster of other campus buildings, marking the time.
Inside, you might be led down dark stone halls and into a series of classrooms: including reading quarters, study rooms with old leather couches and warm carpets covering stone floors; lecture halls with stiff wooden seating and individual desks to match, a chalkboard with indiscernible scribbles half-wiped away; and a laboratory that deals with something a little less modern than you might be used to, or perhaps with its twisty vials and bubbling potions, it suits you perfectly. There is the large library filled from floor to ceiling with books beyond imagining.
If you look out from the tall arch-shaped window from a classroom, or if you’re outside and you tilt your head up to the sky, you might notice that the sky appears to be darkening further, growing heavy with what is inevitably an oncoming rainstorm. If you’re inside, it might be best to stay indoors; if you’re outside, perhaps it’s time to find some shelter. Or if you’re determined to find that orb outside, risk you and your compalion getting wet.
● ● ●
N O T E: Additionally, there are three personal tasks provided to each character as they enter the simulation. In-game, each character will be given one task. For the purposes of the test drive, we’re leaving it to players to pick a task for their character and run with it.
A Team up with another Orber and their compalion to find the orb's location.
B Climb into the clocktower and ring the bell.
C Explain your best theory regarding your compalion’s manifestation to a fellow team member.
F Y I
• This TDM covers the month of February.
• TDM threads can be used as samples for apps. In fact, we encourage it!
• Reserves are currently open!
• Apps open February 24 and will remain open until February 28.
• For any questions regarding TDM, please direct them here. For questions about the game, please refer to the FAQ.
FOR SOME FUN:
Have a clue for your upcoming mission:
https://c.tenor.com/nk3ZsJ2BMiEAAAAC/vigilante-comfort.gif
Or-
He doesn't move until Nikolai climbs from the water, watching as the drops skitter down his back, the tendrils of darkness slithering across his skin. Like a mark, or a collar.
Like merzost, only there's no Small Science in this boy and he's knows it. The Darkling finds his own clothes, drying off slowly with a towel from the bathroom before finding the salvaged garments from the room of things. Dark green this time, and grey pants that feel impossibly soft.]
And what crimes might that be?
[As if there hadn't been a prolonged and uncomfortable stretch of silence between Nikolai's words and his own reply, as if he isn't watching for clues that might explain what is going on. Eyes locked on Nikolai's form, as if he was a puzzle that didn't make much sense.]
that awkward moment when the man who wrecked your life is like nbd
Amnesia, or are you being intentionally obtuse? [ he grins, his teeth flashing white, tightening his grip on the monster's leash. he will not let it out. he will not succumb to the beast. flippantly, he waves a hand. ] Treason? Murder — man and Grisha alike? Turning against your own country? How about that time you were so angry that I so easily deceived you that you attempted to make me one of your monsters? And yet I found my way to the throne all the same, and you found your way to a pyre.
[ and yet he stands before him, clearly alive. that part he has no answer for. the barest line of tension appears between his brows. ]
I await your story with baited breath. This is where you chose to revive yourself?
When every word is measured, because of the- implication
[There's something strange here, in the line of Nikolai's shoulders, the caution that flashes lightning-quick across his features and in the too-casual lilt of his voice at the recitations of his supposed crimes.
He lets the insult slide, tucking on the heavy ravkan boots before walking slowly around the small lake.] I had the same choice presented to me, as it was for you. The little voice in your ear, promising untold wonders in exchange for- assistance.
I have never turned against Ravka, moi tsarevich, I am her most loyal subject.
no subject
but the darkling has always believed himself to be acting in ravka's benefit. that much isn't new. nikolai has never allowed himself to wonder what he might say should he face the man again — it always seemed a dangerous path to allow his mind to wander. too much anger. too much despair. this is the person who brought him to his knees and altered his life completely, no matter what a grand show he makes of being unaffected by his present state. not a day goes by that he doesn't wish he could be the man he was before the war, before this darkness crept into his veins and fused itself to his mind. it's the most brilliant punishment he could have devised, though he's not in the habit of giving compliments to the darkling. ]
It's moi tsar, now. The old king and queen have retired to the southern colonies after some rather unfortunate circumstances, but nothing they didn't deserve. Vasily is in the ground, rest his thickheaded soul. [ he grins again, running a hand through his wet hair. if he thinks of his parents for too long, that stings, too. better to brush over them. ] I'm afraid I've yet to produce an heir, but trust me, I am very difficult to kill. I welcome you to try.
As for your position — it's taken, I'm afraid. [ he steps forward, refusing to shy away from his fear. he looks the darkling in the eye, his breath hitching as the demon surges restlessly inside of him. ] I didn't ask for untold wonders. I asked to return to my country so that I may defend it from the oncoming war. If you are indeed Ravka's most loyal subject, you too will pick up arms and fight for Ravka's independence at my side. [ he relaxes, tilting his head. ] Or is the urge to commit regicide too great?
no subject
[It might still ring like a question, but the Darkling knows better than to ask royalty for a straight answer. The tsar slithered out of them, all of the tsars had done the same, skirting the edges of the truth until the words sounded less self-serving and more like a service to the people.
They had all been terrible liars.
He stands in the artificial snow, watching the man to find traces of the boy he knew once. The less-wanted child, always hiding behind the throne or in the anteroom.
The second son.
The spare.
It's still there, in the soft curl of the boy's mouth and in the bounce of his curls. The gestures of a man, but it echoes the hands of a child, trying too hard to live up to the ideals set before him by the useless generations that came before him.
It's not pity that makes him arch an eyebrow, head tilting to take in everything about this wet man.]
I thought I was the only Darkling in Ravka, but perhaps you've found another one while away at school.
[Unlikely, but then again - one could never be too certain when it came to Baghra...]
I have fought for Ravka since before you or your mother were even born. I have yet to commit any acts of treason, regicide or otherwise. Perhaps you're feeling unwell. Or confused.
no subject
at least one thing rings true. he's not feeling well at all. coming off the heels of one nightmare in elizaveta's castle only to be thrust into another here — and this one without his general by his side — isn't doing any favors for his disposition. his control is in tatters, the demon's leash fraying. everything in nikolai itches for a fight, but the darkness inside of him isn't hungry for blood — and perhaps that's the most disturbing thing of all. the monster is drawn to the darkling. you are my demon. not the darkling's. and yet it doesn't feel that way in this moment, the darkness still creeping over his skin like the delicate web of a spider, this time fissuring from his eyes, crawling down his cheeks. his fingers twitch, the dark veining at his hands pulsing with a sudden ache. ]
Zoya is the commander of the Second Army. [ saints, he would give anything to have her here. the cold air burns his lungs as he draws in a sharp breath, then another, fighting to keep his voice steady. the monster seizes control and abruptly he's on his knees in the snow, a low growl in his throat. nikolai wrenches his way back to consciousness, swinging his gaze upwards, his hands sinking into the artificial snow to dig into the curious dirt beneath. hoarsely — ] Call your monster back.
no subject
[Watching the latticework of darkness spread across Nikolai's face, running like delicate lace down his throat and webbing down the back of his hands. Shadows, deep and dark, spreading as the boy kneels in the snow.
How much of this is real.
But at the chocked words, he reaches out carefully, fingers hovering over Nikolai's upturned face and there's a monster here - hidden behind the pale face and in the cracks of his voice.]
Why do you feel like me.
[Like a piece of him, shoved inside this man. Eyed closed against the blinding lights of the artificial sun reflected back at him, he feels - the pull of a piece of himself, the skim of thoughts brushing over his own mind as his fingers settle against Nikolai's cheek.
The monster is me
A distant echo, familiar and feral.
He cradles Nikolai's face in his hands, palms bracketing the cool skin as he summons, shadows flowing in around them from everywhere as they heed his call, pulling at the shadows that reside inside Nikolai's heart.]