+ TDM 001.

[luxflowmod]

Welcome to Luxflow's first TDM.

Let's get into it.

ARRIVAL

— You wake up encased.

It’s dark, naturally, but a few tendrils of light slip past the — vines? Why are you tangled up in vines? It gives you panic — why can’t you remember — breath quickening, in and in and in again. Your frenzied movements against the vines let in more light, more air.

And you breathe.

As you exhale, a shaky but sure breath against the rough foliage, a light flows out of you. It’s just a little orb that pours out, past the greenery and into that unknown.

The vines melt away into ash, and you’re left standing in a clearing, trees impossibly tall and swaying in the night breeze. Your breath comes in deep and steady, now, and it occurs to you that you should be panicking still … But then as you look around the clearing, you see more vine cocoons, like yours, and others climbing out of them …

There’s people in the center of the clearing. They’re armed but they’re friendly, and they tell you in short and sweet sentences about the place you’re in now …

“ You’re in the Feeding Forest. ” says one, “ This place’ll eat you alive if you can’t break out of the vines. You must be special, huh? ”

Special?

“ C'mon, we’ll take you back to the city. You’re probably here for a while. We’ll fill you in … ”

SPIT SHINE YOUR BLACK CLOUDS

You're trying to get your bearings, but this City stops for no one.

On the next morning after your arrival, there's a festival! It's near the hole, Heart and Center, in the middle of the place. When you arrive there, you're fooled for a moment, and the place doesn't seem so scary; the colors are bright and the citizens are so cheerful as they dance and cheer on the new arrivals to strange music.

No one really knows why they're celebrating, but the arrival of the strange ones feels like it's heralding something good. Maybe there's unheard prayers that are being answered! Maybe their prayers will be answered! There's drinks and food and song, so why not join in? You can get drunk or high or just chill and take it all in.

Yet as the festivities burn on, the locals all hush at some point late in the evening. Words ripple through the throngs, and it reaches you fast. They're going to heave prayers up to the Setting Sun. But first, the great chasm needs an offering from those praying.

They throw in valuables and invaluables alike; drinks and food and clothes and jewelry and weapons and boomboxes are thrown in without a second thought.

What will you offer? If you choose to at all, you'll feel bereft; if it's a memory or power, a light will flow from your mouth and down into the chasm ...

They're silent thereafter in their prayer. Do you pray, too? If you do or you don't, you can't help but feel intense shame, like someone is laughing at you ... Still, after all that, the party continues on.

You're just a little more unsettled, now, a little more uncertain.

SILHOUETTE SALOON

The Silhouette Saloon is open! Or so the signage around town says. Excessive and garish, these signs point characters down a winding path into a place called the Silhouette Saloon. When you enter, everything goes white and everyone appears merely as shadows ... Pretty on the nose, but it provides a strange anonymity.

The fixtures of the saloon are all shadowed out too, stark black against the misty backdrop of white. You can drink here and be free to tell your secrets to anyone who'll listen. The bartender or maybe one of the dancers just finishing their set will tell you that this place keeps secrets.

If you were to tell someone a secret, or hear one, you wouldn't remember it exactly. You would, however, feel a strange nagging sensation about the person who told it to you. Once on the outside, you might not be able to get through a conversation with them without thinking they're hiding something ...

If you don't tell someone a secret, you'll feel compelled to tell someone one once you're out of the Saloon, where the secret won't be so hidden ... It might be better to tell one in the safety of anonymity then, hm?

But the longer you're in there, the more you lose of yourself. You'll forget your name, your purpose, everything about yourself until you pass out on the dance floor. You'll wake up outside the Saloon, stricken with amnesia. It'll wear off after a few hours, though.

PITY'S GOT AN UGLY PRICE TAG

Besides the Drifters and Givers, a new group has popped up. They're called the Pleading, or called plain annoying. They beg for anything you've got from the roadside, calling you over. If you hear them out, they'll hypnotize you in a way; they plead for anything you can possibly spare their poor soul -- the shirt off your back, a memory, an ability. Their sob story goes from believable to something horrifying and personal to you. They'll tell you your mother won't forgive you if you don't, or they'll tell you that the fate of your very best friend hinges on you giving them your wallet.

What do you do?

If someone breaks you out of the grasp of the Pleading's hypnosis, you'll be free.

If you give in, they'll take, and you'll be bereft of what you gave and that will be that.

If you don't, you'll feel immeasurable guilt, mounting more and more with each step ... You might have to be talked out of that guilt, or you might throw yourself into the chasm, inconsolable ...

DIGITAL VEIL ( network )

A question appears on the network. There's no handle attached.

BRUISES OR ROSES OR CRADLES OR COFFINS? WHY WHY WHY? :'D

Answers to this 'question' will be displayed to all; feel free to comment on others, try to gain some sense of what this could mean ... You can also post to the network freely.

QUESTIONS?

Ask below. Have fun.

Comments

Cal Kestis | Jedi Fallen Order

[gingerjedi]

arrival

Cal isn't really given to panic. He was taught from a young age to overcome panic and fear, and he generally does that pretty well. That said, he's also not used to waking up encased in vines in a strange place. He fights the vines because anyone would, Jedi or not. He's still new at having all of his Force abilities restored, so he mostly fights with his regular strength. The Force helps because that's just how it works.

Once clear of the vines, though, Cal notices that something is really off. He can still feel the Force, sure, but something about this place is weird. How did he get here? He can't remember anything that would clue him in there. He might be used to forgetting things, but not like this.

He manages to calm himself enough to look around, take in the sight of the other cocoons, all of that. He reaches for his belt, but he doesn't need to do that to know his lightsaber is still there. So whoever did this, they didn't take his weapon away. That's...actually even stranger. Why leave a Jedi with their weapon? Anyone who kidnapped him, who was capable of doing something like this, they must have known who (or at least what) he was, right? But this doesn't feel like the Empire's tricks, so he's totally baffled by it.

A beep from below him interrupts his thoughts and he looks down, surprised.

"BD-1? Hey, buddy, how'd you even get here?"

The little droid in question beeps again from the forest floor, a series of frantic sounds.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. It's gonna be okay." Cal has no idea if it is or isn't, but that's not the point. He's just trying to reassure.

You might encounter him here with his droid. Alternately, you might catch him just after coming into town, looking lost just like everyone else who shows up here.

silhouette saloon

Cal only goes into the saloon for answers. Once in there, though, he feels completely shut down. He can't see anyone properly. He can't feel them properly, and that panics him a lot more than the vines had. Someone tells him this place keeps secrets.

"No, I think I'm good," he says, shoving a drink away, trying to find the thread of the Force to ground him. It's far away and strange, but he manages to find it and stumble his way back out of the saloon, drawing in a deep, shaky breath. He tries to shove down his panic again. Well, that was a mistake, wasn't it? He still feels off balance.

Someone approaches, either entering or exiting the saloon. He can't help the compulsion, and it just...comes out, unbidden.

"I...I had a vision," he says, still shaky. "I saw myself becoming something I'm afraid of." He's not supposed to even be afraid. He's a Jedi. Maybe he's the last Jedi alive. He's not really sure; Cere was out there, so maybe there are others. He hopes there are. There are others with potential, after all. But he's not a normal Jedi no matter how you shake it down. Nothing is normal anymore.

He manages to clear his head enough to refocus on whoever just heard that.

"Wow, I'm sorry. I don't know what that was about." But what's said is said.

digital veil; un:kestis

I guess roses, because those sound pretty safe in comparison, don't you think?

[ got another idea? cool, let's do that! hit me with a wildcard or PM me if you want to talk something out first! ]

Arrival

[snakehead]

[just inside the town having stopped to take it all in, Narek feels something bump against his leg that gets his attention, looking down to see the little droid.]

Well hello there little one, where did you come from?

[He has such complicated feelings about machines like this thanks to the last few days. Seeing Cal, he points down to the droid with his still cuffed hands.]

Is this yours?

[gingerjedi]

[ BD-1 peers back up at Narek and beeps, hopping back out of the way a little. Perhaps it's to the little droid's advantage that he isn't at all humanoid. ]

Yeah. BD, careful, okay?

[ It's not quite a scold; he's much too fond of the little guy for that. But he looks back at Narek, taking in the Vulcan's appearance. ]

Sorry about that. I think we're both kinda disoriented. Did you, um, come out of these tree things too?

[ He notices the cuffs, sure, but he'll get to that in a minute. ]

[snakehead]

[indeed,the clearly mechanical look of BD makes it a little easier to find agreeable. It's even ... cute, after a fashion.

He clears his throat at Cal's question and gives a nod, nonchalant.]

Indeed I did, don't worry on it.

I don't suppose this planet looks familiar to you does it?

[gingerjedi]

[ Cal nods. So...whatever this is, it's likely not about him being a Jedi. He's not sure who or what Narek is, but he's definitely not a Jedi. He'd feel different if he was. He's also not a type of being that Cal has encountered before. Not human, but...not familiar. That's not immediately alarming, since there are countless species throughout his own galaxy. There's no way to know all of them.

He glances around for a moment. ]

No. This planet is totally new to me. I'm not even sure how they got us here and put us in those things in the first place. How about you, BD?

[ The droid shakes its head and offers a negative beep. ]

Yeah, that would be too easy if it was in your database somewhere, huh?

[ He looks back at Narek again. ]

I'm Cal Kestis. Droid friend there is BD-1.