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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!
warbeast: (pic#15455764)

[personal profile] warbeast 2022-08-14 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
Digging for dirt on me already? Please, jashin, that's pathetically transparent even for you. [ asura snorts, weighs his options, and then pushes past orochi to help himself to the contents of the other man's kitchen if he's going to be so inviting. asura doesn't trust anyone's kindness or warmth anymore, least of all orochi's.

but asura is hated the world over much the same, an irony which is not lost on him. that no matter how much orochi conspires, manipulates, and murders or how much asura strives to help, protect, and save, they are reviled very same.

if asura actually cared about what happened to him, he might be offended on his own behalf. fortunately or unfortunately, asura walked away from himself long ago. he is a means to an end. everything else, any pride he might have, any ego, any worldly desire, is immaterial. ]


Are you going to rush to my aid? Promise to soothe all my hurts away? What will my answer do but arm you to put a knife in my back later?

Ask until your throat bleeds for all I care.
necrotizes: (pic#15878040)

[personal profile] necrotizes 2022-08-14 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
I am only concerned for you. Yet anything I say will be taken as a lie.

[ He drops his hand away so that he may give a little shrug. However, the gesture most likely is unseen with how Asura swiftly moves in. Orochi does not take much time to close the door behind them; he folds his hands lightly in front of his body as he follows after.

And, even though he is but a mortal, his movements remain that of a serpent. He slides his steps across the floor; he sways just a little side-to-side. And he pauses to wait for the Destroyer to turn back to speak to him. ]


You certainly like to sound skeptical, but I do come to the aid of those that need me. I merely hope that they uphold their end of their deal with me. I do not think that is a terrible thing to desire from someone else. Do you? [ He cocks his head slightly to the side. ] Still ... I do not know why you think I am your enemy.

Why do you think I would bring you harm? Why do you think I would harm someone that is a sinner like me?
warbeast: (pic#15455766)

[personal profile] warbeast 2022-08-14 06:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ much of the animosity is on account of the fact that asura knows orochi is trying to double dip between him and taishakuten on top of all the atrocities, but talking about that would involve speaking taishakuten's name so asura offers nothing on that subject. ]

Shut up.

[ asura doesn't want to hear the accusation of their similarities from orochi, even if he had only just been thinking the exact same. he's headed for the kitchen to see if there's anything decent here to drink but stops short when he passes the image of susanoo. remembering that his walls were covered in images of only people he knew, cared about, worked with—

has the evil god not always worked alone? it is not someone asura recognizes, and he picks it up to study the intense stare of someone who looks like no one has bothered to inform him of the concept of smiling. ]


Friend of yours?
necrotizes: (pic#15878523)

[personal profile] necrotizes 2022-08-14 06:07 am (UTC)(link)
I really wonder who it is that you're posturing for, Destroyer.

[ He lets out a long sigh; his body bends at the waist and his long hair falls well over his face. The sound he makes almost sounds disappointed, but as he lifts his head up, he is back to his warm, pleasant smile. The amount of struggling that Asura is doing is just as entertaining than if the other had truly told him his troubles and fears.

There is a brief look that can be seen -- his eyes shine with a line that looks murderous that the portrait had been so casually picked up. The smile fades from his lips before he finds the strength to slide it back on. ]


I'm sad that you don't recognize him. He was truly a magnificent beacon of justice. [ Orochi steps forward; his fingers reach out to glide along the frame that is in Asura's hands. ] Yet he was just as guilty as I was. Perhaps, he even held more sins than I ever could hope to hold. [ The tone of voice is vaguely affectionate. ]

Still, I don't think you should call him a friend. If he heard you call me such, I think his insides would rupture from despair and disgust.
warbeast: (pic#15455767)

[personal profile] warbeast 2022-08-14 06:28 am (UTC)(link)
I don't posture[ asura snaps, then stops to take a breath before orochi gets any further under his skin. that is what orochi does, what he derives pleasure from, and asura so hates to give him the satisfaction.

orochi's answer regarding the portrait gets a curious cant of asura's head. beacon of justice? asura wouldn't have thought that sort of person could hold orochi's interest, but then who can understand the inner workings of such a conniving man's head?

...taishakuten, most likely, but asura pushes that thought aside as quickly as it came. ]


Then what would you call him? [ asura asks, giving the picture a careless shake to emphasis its presence in orochi's room. ]
necrotizes: (pic#15878039)

[personal profile] necrotizes 2022-08-14 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
You must be very happy right now, Asura. [ His tone of voice did not change, but the look in his eyes faded from the usual amusement. There is something like burning anger building up in his expression. ] Without your divinity, the prophecy about you will not come to pass.

You will not be driven to kill anyone. Your precious friend will not have to stop you. And you will not have to kill him. [ He rolls his eyes up and goes: ] Ah. But I suppose that he isn't here, anyway, is he? For if he were, you would not be pounding on my door for absolution.

You would be seeking his.

[ He steps forward to take the portrait out of Asura's grip. ]

But I'm being rude. You asked a question about what I'd call him. [ The once snake god smiles. ] I wonder. Who could say?
warbeast: (pic#15455772)

[personal profile] warbeast 2022-08-14 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
We are not friends, [ asura spits, the word wretched upon his tongue like something rotted, something spoiled. to him, orochi is speaking nonsense. he doesn't believe in prophecies, feels himself in control of his own future, in his ability to change the world. things happen because of the choices people make, and taishakuten has made his choices clear.

orochi, too, is full of machinations. his words are distractions, meant to befuddle and disarm his opposition. where taishakuten wields power and puppet strings, orochi whispers gently, tenderly, invitingly in the dark.

he grips the photo tighter when orochi goes to take it from him, arches an eyebrow, then releases it all at once.

there's clearly something going on there, but what that is exactly is beyond him. ]


Not an enemy, not a friend. An obsession, then. [ you're welcome for the assessment.

the photograph taken from him, he glances at the walls to see if there are any other faces staring back besides susanoo's, then proceeds into the kitchen to see if orochi has anything decent to drink. ]
necrotizes: (pic#15878034)

[personal profile] necrotizes 2022-08-14 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I think it would hurt him to hear you say that you're not. He cares so much for you, and willing to commit so many sins for your sake. Truly, you could not have hoped for a more loyal person.

[ There is a second, of course, when he is attempting to take back the photo that he thinks they will have a fight. But he is glad to hold it once more in his hands. He gazes down fondly at the storm god's face.

Has it been one thousand years since that day? It has, it has.

He hums softly. ]


If I said that he was a love, what would you say, Destroyer? Would you deny me it? Would you say someone like me has no idea of what love is, and should not speak on it?

[ His chin lifts, pulling his gaze away from the photo, so that he could look at the walls. Upon the walls are the other six evil gods, they are his companions and compatriots. They also have been locked away in different realms, suffering for centuries in their isolation. He wonders how mad they have all become, but knows one thing.

If released, they would still recognize him as their leader -- and that is all that really matters. He will let them go and exhibit their freedom once more on the world. And if they find him wanting, he looks forward to them coming to tear him apart. Such is the freedom that he offers even his most beloved allies. ]


I do know what love is. I was once a god, after all, before I fell.

[ Indeed, he knows what love is. He knows of the poisonous, hypocritical love that the sun goddess gifted everyone. ]
warbeast: (pic#15455762)

[personal profile] warbeast 2022-08-14 05:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ asura kneels to start rummaging through orochi's cupboards, finding the pantry reassuringly full of familiar foods. it's clearly to orochi's tastes, however, not a single ghost pepper to be seen. still, he can work with this. he also locates some sake and uncorks it to drink straight from the bottle.

he listens to the snake god pontificate, melodramatic as ever, unsurprised when orochi does not give him space to answer before he finishes his speech. asura doesn't really care, though. he's not one to demand strict adherence to social norms. as long as people are good and well-meaning, he doesn't care how they go about it. of course, orochi is neither, but asura won't hold his flowery speech or vanity against him. ]


A love, then, [ he accepts simply, without question. love is not something ruled by reason. it is not inherently good or inherently bad. it simply is, as much a force of nature as anything. asura finds himself possessed of it even now, the love for all that was lost in taishakuten's betrayal burning him to ashes there in the cage of his chest, immolated anew with every memory of their time together in the sun.

if orochi says he has loved, then it is love. love need not be reciprocated either, to be real. these are all the hard-won lessons asura's time in the abyss has granted him. ]


I think you are capable of anything you set your eyes on, [ he goes on, pulling out braids of garlic and ginger roots, potatoes and green peppers, cured meats, eggs uncooked rice. ] And that makes what you are all the more revolting.