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Rhodos Mods ([personal profile] rhodosmods) wrote in [community profile] rhodos_meme2022-08-10 10:12 am
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TDM #1

TDM #1: AUGUST
I. ARRIVAL
Upon arrival, characters awaken in one of the main plazas of the town, lying on the paving stones around a central fountain. It is a bright sunny day and very hot, so you'll quickly want to find some shade. A light breeze brings the scent of the sea, but there are no cries of sea birds to be heard.

The buildings of the plaza are all medieval stone construction, but they all have modern awnings and glass fronts. Tables out front display tourist wares: little plastic statuettes, postcards, t-shirts. Among these, it's easy to identify Greek lettering, Greek gods, photos of Athens and Crete. Predominant among the souvenirs are items marked with the name Rhodos.

But there are no vendors selling their wares. Even if characters wander into the shops, they are all empty as if their owners just stepped away for a moment. Lights are on, and some of the larger and nicer shops even have the whirr of air conditioning. Food stands waft the aroma of freshly grilled kebabs, and a gelato cart is cold to the touch and the ice cream inside is frosty and delicious.

The plaza where you arrive is set on a slope, and the direction of the sea breeze and the faint sound of waves against a shore indicates pretty strongly that down-slope is the direction of the sea. But looking down the slope from the main plaza, you can see an open archway in a tall stone wall, and beyond it is nothing but mist. Despite the clear sunny day in the plaza, the mist is a dense fog with barely three feet of visibility. If you enter it, you can see your own arms in front of you, but nothing beyond that. The breeze has gone still and the waves no longer sound so much like waves--the sound is warped through the mist so that it almost sounds like sobbing. After about five minutes of determined walking across what feels like flat ground with no other landmarks, you find yourself back at the archway.

Housing can easily be scavenged. Doors are unlocked and the interiors are clean and welcoming, beds freshly made, as if it is a hotel that's been prepared for you rather than anyone's personal residence. And yet, once you've settled upon a place to live, you start to find little signs that you have lived here all along. The photographs on the wall (which weren't there when you first arrived) depict you and your family and friends, even if you came from a world without photography. Upon arrival, you have only the clothing you are wearing, but within a day the closet begins to fill with familiar outfits from home, and within the first week you may find up to five of your own possessions around your new residence.

Note: Wardrobe is limited to what you can reasonably fit inside a non-walk-in apartment closet, what your character would reasonably wear and possess in canon, or what can be scavenged around town. There are two very small clothing boutiques where you can find most basics and a few cute outfits. For starting possessions two may be weapons or magical items, but you may have an additional three mundane items. All other personal items can only be obtained through regains or events.
II. SOUND AND LIGHT
The first few days in your new home are relatively uneventful. The days are hot and sunny and the nights are warm beneath a dazzling starry sky.

After not quite a week, the noises of a spectacle will lead characters to a small gate in one of the outer walls with steps leading down into the outer moat. The fog surrounding the city walls has drawn back for just this one little area, revealing an open air theater butting up against the castle wall. A path leads away from the theater on either side, but if you walk into the mist on either side you will promptly find yourself walking out of the mist on the opposite side, as if you'd circumnavigated the entire moat in just a few steps. Behind the theater is another high stone wall. Centuries of weathering has added rough footholds and handholds, but it would be a dangerous climb without equipment. Trees grow from the top of the wall, sticking limbs out of the wall of mist and clawing roots into the stones at the top, loosening them so that they're ready to slip at a touch.

The play that is projected onto the wall features shadow puppets, colored lights, and canned soundtrack special effects like the clop of horses hooves or the burst of trumpets. There is no dialogue or narration, so the story can only be roughly pieced together: there is a king and a queen, then a betrayal that leads to the king's murder. Later, the king and the queen appear again, participating in a ritual which seems to involve human sacrifice, a war and a triumphal procession, and then another betrayal and the king is murdered again.

The story repeats three times every night before shutting itself off. The first performance starts at twilight, and each repetition lasts about twenty minutes. Characters who watch it repeatedly will get the sense that it's slightly different each time, but the whole thing is complicated and confusing without any narration or dialogue to provide context, so characters will struggle to pin down how it's different. A slide projector is set up at the top of the amphitheater, with a pair of old speakers on either side of it. If slides are removed from the projector, they show only blank, uncolored plastic. If something is placed in front of the projector light, the scene is projected onto that object. The projector can be turned off, unplugged, or smashed. No matter what is done to it, as soon as no one is actively watching it, it is restored to an undamaged status and resumes playing.

After watching an entire repetition of the performance, some characters may be overcome by a fit of weeping. Tears roll down your cheeks and you can't seem to catch your breath. Despair clutches at your heart, colored by your own personal sorrows, and the weeping can only be stopped by receiving an embrace.

Others may find that the performance inspires them to reminisce. No matter how secretive you might normally be, you find yourself turning to whoever is sitting near you and telling them a story from your past, something that makes you nostalgic or regretful.
III. INTO THE FOG
CONTENT WARNING: Cruelty and violence against (monster) dogs

After the characters have been in Rhodos for about three weeks, a heavy fog rolls into town. Unlike the mist that surrounds the city, the fog smells of smoke. Visibility is reduced to a mere ten or fifteen feet.

The electricity goes out, and shops are no longer replenished. Food may still be scavenged, but the food in shops and restaurants will slowly rot and may run out. Battery operated items will continue to work as long as the batteries still have a charge. Running water inside the houses continues to work, but it is sluggish and smells stale, leaving an unpleasant film on the skin.

While out on the streets of the town, characters will begin to encounter the monster dogs of Rhodos. The sound of a dragging chain precedes them, and then the hazy outline of a dog comes into view. It's walking oddly, however, with a sort of staggering limp, and the sound of the chain is underlaid by a low, feral growl. Furless gray skin peels away in patches to reveal bloody muscle. The heavy iron collar around the neck is studded with long black screws, the ends of which pierce the skin of the neck. Hazy eyes are clouded with decomposition, and yet that doesn't seem to prevent the dog from making its way straight toward you.

The dogs are not very fast, nor very smart. They can be outpaced at a brisk walk, and they will lose track of any character who gets more than twenty feet away or behind a closed door. But they are vicious. If you get within a few feet, they will lunge at you and attempt to bite. If two or three of them manage to corner you in a blind alley, you could be in real trouble.

In addition to the dogs, characters will begin to catch glimpses of Manifestations, both their own or those of others. At first you might just catch a glimpse of them through a break in the fog, but after a day or two they can be spotted standing outside of apartment windows and staring in. In either case, they will not approach or attack characters unless you're foolish enough to get within six feet of them. Then, they will attack, and they will pursue at a fast walk until they lose track of you in the fog.
IV. WAKING UP TO A NIGHTMARE
CONTENT WARNING: Blood imagery

On the 28th, characters are awakened by the sound of their front doors being smashed in. It's your own smashing door that awakens you, but you can hear more distant sounds of destruction from the other apartments nearby.

As you scramble out of your bed, you find that the homey, quilted bedding has been soaked through with blood, and it's sagging in the middle with the outline of a human body. But before you have a chance to properly react to that horror, your Manifestation is coming through your bedroom door — more than one of them, if you were sharing that bed with anyone.

You will have to fight or dodge in order to get out of the room. Your Manifestation is out for your blood. You can do damage to it, creating deep wounds and heavy bruises, causing it to stagger and slow for a moment, but no matter how much damage you do it keeps coming for you. Sooner or later, you will need to run.

When you make it out into the streets, you'll find that the entire world has changed. Heavy darkness fills the city, and no stars are visible in the sky. A few lights glow despite the lack of electricity, but they only provide a sickly, red-tinted light. Streets are slick with something that looks like blood, and the stone walls in many places have been transformed into metal or grate. Through the grate, you can catch glimpses of black metal hooks and gory, dripping meat that looks human in origin.

There is no palatable food or water. Anything you have saved has rotted or changed unnaturally into what looks like rotting flesh or lumps of bile. Liquid has turned into blood or black water. The only mercy is that symptoms of hunger, thirst and fatigue stabilize after 24 hours and don't get any worse. Don't worry, it won't be the dehydration that kills you here.

Your Manifestation pursues you tirelessly, and the monster dogs are faster, smarter, and moving in packs. Your home is no longer safe, and staying on the streets is deadly.
V. THE BONFIRE
CONTENT WARNING: Body horror, immolation

Sooner or later, you find your way to the bonfire in the middle of the fountain square. There is no longer water in the fountain. Instead, the whole thing towers with flame, fueled by a viscous black substance in the basin.

A tall man stands by the fountain, gazing into the flames as if he is supervising. His suit is true black, fathomless black, while his skin is a dark red-black like the newly formed crust upon a lava flow. His eyes are black pools reflecting the flames. He takes no interest in any approaching characters, and will not respond to any questions. The only thing that will draw his attention to you is an attempted attack. If you try it, your blow lands, but he doesn't seem to take any damage. His head turns toward you and he considers you for a moment, as if he finds it intriguing that you would attempt such a thing. Then he returns his attention to the fire.

The dogs and the Manifestations will not pursue you into the circle of light cast by the bonfire. You can find a sort of respite here.

Time passes. It feels like days, though there is no way to mark the passage of time. The Dark Figure continues to supervise the bonfire.

At last, your attention is drawn to a sort of commotion approaching down one of the main streets that feeds into the plaza. You hear a rattling of metal, and a sort of gibbering moan. The bonfire illuminates first upon a pale, faceless figure which seems to writhe as it approaches, hovering above the paving stones. As it grows closer, you see that the figure is lashed to a square metal frame and bound with strips of barbed wire. Veiled figures on either side bear it forward, and the Dark Figure turns to watch it approach.

The figure upon the frame has no face and no mouth with which to make its agonized moans, but it continues nonetheless. It has limbs but no hands or feet, each limb ending in smooth stumps.

If no one interferes, the Handmaidens carry the frame forward and place it upon the fire.

The Handmaidens can be attacked, and hurt. They cry out indignantly at any attack, and recoil. They will not fight back, but they also will not be discouraged from their task by anything less than persistent violence.

If the pale figure on the frame is rescued by the player characters, it flails and gibbers helplessly, continuing to moan. If the pale figure is consigned to the flames, it begins to scream, and continues screaming for several minutes until the flame finally overcomes it.

In either situation, you begin to cough. Blood spills from your mouth, dribbling down your chin and spattering upon your clothing. But then the droplets begin to slither into letters, forming words that spell out your deepest guilt, in the words you yourself would use to describe it. No attempt to wipe the words away or cover them will prevent their legibility. The blood shines through whatever covers it, catching the firelight so that those around you can clearly read the words.

The Dark Figure and his Handmaidens made their exit while you were coughing. You are left alone with the other Tourists around you, your guilt, and whatever remains of the pale figure upon the frame.
SUMMARY
Arrival: August 1
Sound and Light: August 5-20
Into the Fog: August 21-27
Waking Up to a Nightmare: August 28-30
The Bonfire: August 31

Welcome to Rhodos! Going forward, events will take place in two parts. The Normal World part of the event posted on the 5th of each month, and it will be a lighter event both in terms of length and thematic content. TDMs will be bi-monthly and will feature an event element or elements for the Normal World which in-game characters may also play with on their own log posts. The sections on Fog and Nightmare worlds for the TDM will generally be the same every month, allowing players to test drive those elements if they'd like, but not including spoilers for the second part of that month's event. The second part of the event will be posted on the 20th of each month, covering events occurring through both the Fog and Nightmare cycles.

Test drive memes are considered game canon.

This won't always be the case, but for the nerds among you who are enjoying this sometimes-accurate tour of Rhodes, all location images in this TDM and housing are accurate to Rhodes.

Lastly, we are in need of mods! We're most in need of help for processing apps and activity. If we aren't able to get some additional mods, we will have to place a cap on applications, and we're hoping we won't have to do that. If you're interested, please send us a message over on the mod contact page. We've gotten the mod volunteers we needed so we should be all clear to proceed without an applications cap. Thank you to everyone who showed interest!
guitarpicks: (242)

[personal profile] guitarpicks 2022-08-15 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ the thing about eddie is that he runs. he's more of a tuck tail and speed away sort of guy, as he's learned about himself. sure, he was set on protecting henderson with everything he had, no matter what it took, and wouldn't have turned tail if dustin were here but--- but he isn't here. so logic serves that running is the better idea. or something. anyway, this time, it's not so much running away from his own home and a horribly traumatizing event taking place there as much as out at the wrong time as things went to shit and needing cover.

eddie's still digging through a drawer because he didn't bring his spear along. he finds a butcher knife which is a lot more close up and personal than he'd like but whatever, man, it'll do. he jumps as he hears pounding on the door, drops the knife with a loud 'clang' that probably does nothing to not draw dogs closer.]
Shit!

[ except then harrington keeps pounding and that's probably not good for that either. which, shit, harrington is locked out there. eddie wonders how the guy found him when he's not sure exactly where he is. harrington seems like a bloodhound when it comes to people he knows being in danger which is weird but oddly useful in this case.

eddie forgets the knife and runs to the door, hands shaking because jesus christ this is upside down level bullshit. ]
Hold your fucking horses, Harrington! I'm-- I need to unlock it. [ which was easier to do without the pounding on the door and before the adrenaline of running wore off. luckily, eddie's asthma hasn't kicked in.

he manages to unlatch the deadbolt and gets the lock undone, swings the door open and reaches out to grab whatever shirt steve's swearing to pull him inside as if steve's the one lagging behind and staying out with the demon dogs on purpose. ]
Get in. [ he slams the door behind steve, once he's inside, and quickly locks and bolts it again before leaning against it, out of breath and still on the edge of hysteria. ] What the fuck, man. How did you find me? [ how can someone sound somewhat hysterical and awed at the same time? special skills, man. ]
babysitters: (kJnaSnV)

[personal profile] babysitters 2022-08-24 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
You hold your fucking horses! ( Steve whisper-yells, incensed, through material of the door. being angry is not exactly helpful in a high-stress situation. Steve will dial it back a little, when he's relatively assured Eddie is safe. he's just not fond of Eddie's decision to run off into the unknown when things got hairy. it's very difficult for Steve to ascertain all the people he cares about are safe when they're spread out like angry ants. he needs to get one of those day-care leashes, keep all of his wayward teenagers in one basic location. they can put Nancy at the front of the leash, since she's the one with the most firepower.

so, getting dragged around? not Steve's favorite feeling, after getting dragged to the bottom of Lover's Lake and choked out on the squishy, moldy, palpitating upside down floor. he's stiff as a result, even though he rationally knows that it's Eddie, and not something more nefarious grabbing a fistful of his shirt. it takes most of his energy to push back the panic, focus on Eddie slamming the deadlocks back shut.

it helps that Eddie gives him something else to focus on. for example, frustration!
) By looking. A fucking lot, by the way! What the hell are you doing in here? ( his mood is tempered, slightly, that Munson seems to be walking and talking and in relatively one piece. he can dial it back, a little. but just a little! because Steve is pretty sure running off to undisclosed locations when shit is hitting the fan is still a bad idea. )
guitarpicks: (S8apROl)

[personal profile] guitarpicks 2022-09-03 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[ don't subject anyone to leashes with eddie involved, steve, he's going to panic and get them all tangled up. worse for everyone, honestly.

eddie lifts a hand to run it through his hair, the curls are tangled with sweat. he's been running, adrenaline pumping in his veins. eddie should be used to running by now, really, because he's done so much in the last few weeks. willingly too, after begrudgingly complying in p.e. classes until he could fuck off and smoke underneath the bleachers.

he frowns at that answer. given all the stuff back home and that they've banded together, eddie knows he shouldn't be surprised. they fought demo-bats together, snuck around and escaped the upside down to game plan how to kill an ultimate evil before the scary monster island. so. he's not shocked even if he makes him feel uncomfortable in a strangely nice way. weird. he lifts a hand, rubs the back of his neck. ]
Shit, sorry. How long were you looking? Are the others okay?

[ running off to undisclosed locations is somewhat his m.o. though so-- remember reefer ricks? ] And, uh, I'm hiding from the dogs and the freaky monsters? Looking for a weapon? What else would I be doing in here? [ he pushes off the door, motions toward the kitchen where there are drawers open and he's been riffling through them. ]
babysitters: (24)

[personal profile] babysitters 2022-09-06 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
Nancy was fine when I left her. We split up to try and find everyone.

( and Steve doesn't love that idea, but, Nancy wasn't wrong that they could cover more ground separate. they were both separately armed and even if they were obviously stronger together, it was more imperative to find people quickly. Steve feels relieved to have found Eddie in one piece, he is. the unknown of Robin and Chrissy (and Nancy, armed to the teeth and all) is killing him, though, which means he's going to have to convince this terrified fluffy bambi boy to go out into the insanity. )

Weapon is a good idea. Here. ( it is with slight reluctance that he hands off his bat, because... well... he's survived some shit with that nailed bat. Steve slept with it beside his bed for months straight, after the showdown with the Demogorgon. it's probably been with him more than his own parents, at this point. that's kinda sad. the point is, it's an easier weapon to use than the axe, and as it turns out... he's got one of those too, strapped to his back. ) We gotta get back out there, Munson. What if Nancy hasn't found Robin or Chrissy yet?

( what if they're also out there, without a weapon, and goddamn terrified? it makes Steve squirrelly just thinking about it. nope, nope, they have to go back into the fray and make sure that everyone is safe. )
guitarpicks: (7uczVuK)

[personal profile] guitarpicks 2022-09-08 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
Nancy's pretty badass. If she's out there, the dogs are probably afraid of her. [ which isn't eddie saying they don't need to go out there, it's not. it's just that nancy wheeler owns two guns and can handle her way around a shot gun so he's sure she's able to hold her own. robin... is resourceful if she's not panicking about rabies.

chrissy has him worried though; chrissy who died at the hands of a monster and has less experience fighting them. not that eddie knows what he's doing but back home he was ready to fight, even if he'd said he was just playing decoy. when they get back -- if they get back and this isn't a fucked up, vecna'd dream be for they all bite the dust -- he will if it comes down to it.

so he takes the bat, lets out a deep breath. it's heavier than he expected it to be. ]
Jesus Christ. This is where putting more effort into P.E. would have paid off. [ but if he can swing an oar, he can manage a bat. he doesn't want to go out there and when he looks back toward the door, it's with terror in his eyes. he's not harrington, he can't just keep going.

not going out is not an option though and, truthfully, eddie doesn't want to be the loser who stayed behind and left steve to fend for himself out there either. he's trying not to be that guy. trying not to run. so he steals himself, looks back at steve. ]
Back out to the depths of Mordor 2.0, I guess? Can't leave the girls out there too long.
babysitters: (4DzDuI1)

🎀

[personal profile] babysitters 2022-09-25 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
She's something, isn't she?

( Steve doesn't have time to go full stan account for Nancy Wheeler right now. considering Eddie is already on his case about Nancy having feelings for him, and this is the last possible time they should be worried about his nonexistent love life, it doesn't seem especially wise to talk in depth about how awesome Nancy is. ...even if she is awesome. look, he's just agreeing with the obvious sentiment, nothing loaded about that, MOVING ON.

there's a flashing hint of something in Steve's expression when Eddie rallies and takes the bat. pride, if you wanna pin down a word for it. it wasn't too long ago a rattled Eddie Munson was huddled under a blanket, eyes far away, condemning himself for running after Chrissy got hurt. Steve thinks running makes a certain amount of sense in the shit they've seen, gone through — but maybe Eddie is braver than he thinks. given the opportunity, anyway. nobody made him dive into obvious danger, and Steve can't really make him agree to party up to run into the thick of it to try and make sure their friends are okay.

Eddie had to land on that himself, and he did. that means something, to a guy like Steve.

the fear in Eddie's eyes isn't lost on him, either. he doesn't point it out, though, instead grabbing the guy and gripping his shoulder, a long heartbeat, a wordless bro communication. proud of you. you've got this. and you aren't on your own, i'm with you. bro communication can say so much without saying anything! but only if you can speak bro, can Eddie?
)

Mordor 2.0, here we come. ( axe and bat in hand — they've got a cheerleader, band geek, and smartiepants to find. )