PHASE I [ 9 00 ] You open your eyes, and there is a chicken pecking at your face. It's not a very happy chicken, either, but if you can manage to fend it off, then it will be clear that you are in a village. It is... medieval-esque, in that video game sort of way; the details don’t seem too clear, but if you look to your left, there’s a cow! And to your right, a well! Ignore the clear evidence of modern technology in the buildings such as lights, gas, and 21st century plumbing; CERES is dedicated to authenticity.
Looks like the new ViViD level has finally been released, and everyone is invited to play, whether they want to or not.
The game (because this time, that's surely what it is) will start simple. Everyone begins in the same place and every NPC villager will say the same thing: to get out of here, you have to go through the caves. They’ll shove a stick at you (“take this, it’s dangerous to go alone”) and off you go, into the caves… !
Which are full of tiny rats and more chickens. They will try to fight you, but it’s really not very effective when they’re perfectly small and average (especially when everyone still has their typical powers and abilities -- CERES didn't mess with those at all this time). The caves are winding and circular and maze-like, and to make matters even worse, the only ones around are the other poor saps stuck in this situation.
But if you kill enough of the rats, you’ll get to hear the satisfying level up jingle. Congratulations! You are now level 2. It's probably satisfying just for a minute or so until you finally find your way out of those maze like caves and -- You're back in the village again. Great.
PHASE II [ 930 ] You’re carrying a bag. No matter what you do, you can’t take it off, either; it’s stuck with you through thick and thin. But it is awfully heavy. Maybe you should actually open it and see what’s inside?
The problem is, it’s going to take a while.
The bag has clearly tapped into its true hammerspace nature; there are items for days in there, and they’re all very, very strange. You might end up covered in hats of all sorts, buried in logs as you pull out one after another, or look like you have an odd fetish for pickaxes.
Maybe there’s 1/3rd of an evil turnip, half a piece of pie and an egg.
Geez, what in the world are you supposed to do with all of that?
PHASE III [ 1200 ] Eventually, you make it out of the caves the right way despite the harassment of the rats and chickens and the fact you'll keep perpetually getting lost. Hooray! You come out into a large, peaceful, scenic meadow, with a small river bubbling off to one side, and a house.
You'll immediately notice that there’s a bridge to cross the river, but there’s someone standing in the way of that bridge. When you approach to go past him, no matter what you try to do, you won't be able to. Asking him why he won't move will only get one thing in response -- “Bring me a fish. Cooked.”
Then he’ll shove a fishing rod at you and expect you to get to it. You can’t attack him, you can’t get past him -- looks like the only thing to do is to catch and cook that fish. Time to sit back, relax, and get to work. Or maybe you’ll team up with someone else and be the person in the house making sure that the fish gets cooked properly. For some reason, if you leave it too long it turns right into a pile of ashes.
Weirdly though, no matter how good you are at cooking or fishing usually, it’s as if you’re right back at the metaphorical level one. Any sort of seasoning or effort to cook it faster falls flat and in the end you'll only be able to place the fish in the pan and set it on the stove, whole. This may take awhile.
And if you try to cross the river itself, well... no, really, don’t try to cross the river.
At least if you get eaten, you’ll just respawn back in the village, but do have fun traveling through the caves again!
PHASE IV [ 1430 ] You made it through the caves. You made it across the river (with a slightly burnt fish). You’ve made it to the wide open world, and you can finally adventure to your heart’s content. You take a step forward on the road and --
A message pops up, bright red and in your face.
[ Restricted Area: Members Only ]
No matter what you do, you can’t go past that point. In fact, if you’re not careful and you’re going too fast, you might run face-first into it like it’s an invisible wall (which it is).
Then, just like that, you're back in the village. Again. Only this time, there's a nice, blinking message -- Pay a small subscription fee to access member's content. Oh well. No big deal, you can just start again.
Except then you see a cool sword and when you try to pick it up, you'll get that same message, and end up transported back to the village yet again. And again, with some shiny new armor. And again, with that attention-grabbing NPC over there. Looks like you're caught in an infinite loop here but no matter how much you inspect the pop up, there's no... actual way to pay the subscription fee (and why would you want to?). But at least you have company, because you can't be the only person who thought that sword was cool.
(It was really, really cool.)
BONUS [ xxxx ] What’s that on the ground in front of you? It looks like… some bunny ears? Or maybe it’s a chicken head, or a pumpkin head. Either way, the moment you touch it, you have a strong need to put it on your head -- and once it’s on, it’s not coming off.
To make matters worse, each hat has an effect associated with it; the bunny ears will, in fact, randomly turn you into a cute fluffy bunny for anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour before you pop right back to yourself, whereas the pumpkin hat will, in a complete reversal, turn you into Cinderella for a bit -- complete with beautiful ball gown and the ability to talk to all of those cute fluffy bunnies.
Also the rats will love you, so maybe you should go back to the caves again.
Meanwhile, the chicken hat won't transform you into any odd creature, but it will inspire in the people wearing them a very real, persistent desire to build a nest. This will involve picking up twigs, trash, shiny things and whatever else catches your eye to try to build a nest out of it. You'll also try to pick up whatever food you find on the ground to eat, have the weirdest desire to lay an egg, and basically have all sorts of odd chicken-like instincts inflicted upon you.
At least you look festive!
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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Rapunzel / Tangled
[ Waking up in a village isn't wholly unusual for Rapunzel. After all, she's been doing that for a couple of years now in Luceti. But she wasn't in Luceti anymore - the lack of wings made that clear. And she was on her way home! She'd walked through a portal to take her there, leaving all her friends behind for the promise of returning to her kingdom. But this certainly isn't her kingdom, either.
Well! Standing around won't help her understand her situation any better. So she takes that stick, thank you very much, and heads into the caves! Unfortunately, her hair isn't braided and as such, it leaves a long trail behind her. If someone accidentally steps on it, they may hear a distant yelp from up ahead. ]
Ouch!
[ PHASE II ]
[ This bag is rather heavy, isn't it? Rapunzel opens it up to find out why, and ends up pulling out item after item. Many of them appear to be furniture and dishware , actually. It's actually quite delightful, and she soooort of forgets about the whole questing aspect of this adventure as she sets up a quasi-living room in the middle of one cave. ]
Now, if I only had some tea...
[ PHASE III ]
[ Appointed with the task of cooking a fish to cross the bridge, Rapunzel takes her fishing rod in hand and casts the line into the river! She's got this! She's got this...
Except...it's taking quite a long time, isn't it? She actually isn't all that familiar with fishing, and she can't help but wonder if there might be a better approach than the one she's taking. Maybe she could just reach into the river and pull a fish out! She has ninja-like reflexes now, after all! Should be a piece of cake.
So don't worry about the tiny blonde woman trying sticking her arm elbow-deep into the water, oblivious to the fact that there may be a much, much larger fish swimming towards her. THIS IS EXTREME CATFISHING except no, someone should probably alert her before she gets swallowed whole. ]
[Phase III]
Oh dear! You almost had it, too! I'm sure you'll catch the next one. Here, then, why don't you give me your hand and we can look for more fish further down the river?
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That sounds like a great idea! Two heads are better than one, after all. Or two fish-catchers! [ She takes Snow's hand and steps out of the river. The hem of her skirt is more than a little soaked now! Oh well... ]
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My goodness! Look at all that lovely hair! However did you get it so long!
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Oh, thank you so much! I just...never cut it! And it just kept on growing! It might seem kind of cumbersome, but it comes in handy most of the time, really!
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3!
I wouldn't do that if I was you, missy.
((ooc: is it ok to mention Rapunzel as in the generic fairy tale or you'd rather not have any kind of 4th wall at all?))
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He hadn't been in the village of Luceti long, so it takes Rapunzel a moment to conjure up a name. For now, she stares at his a little crookedly. Apparently unfazed by the fact that he is floating in the air. ]
I know you! You got stuck in the fridge once!
((ooc: fourth-walling is totally okay! She's heard about the fairy tale before, so def go for it. c:))
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I think you're a bit confused there, Rapunzel. [He uses the name as a joke, just like he calls Hiccup dragonkin. A reference! Little does he know...] I don't think we're met before.
I
So he tries to call out down the tunnel.]
I apologize!!
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That must be the walls of the cave distorting the sound of the voice of some stranger. She had said goodbye to him forever. There was no way...
But Rapunzel's heart is a hopeful one and so she turns back towards her trail of hair. ]
...Hello? Who's there?
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And as he moves, he does pick up her hair and try to furl it around his arm. He doesn't want anyone else to step on it! Or worse, for a monster to attack it.
When he hears the question, he answers quickly and directly.]
Rock Lee!!
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It's him. It's really him.
She was never supposed to see him again.
For a moment, she fears she might still be deep beneath the Luceti village, being tested on whether she would continue her quest or go running back. But she had passed that test - actually, the two of them had passed it together.
The cold grip of fear releases her, and she breaks out into a run towards him. As soon as she can spy his silhouette in the darkness, she continues full-pelt to throw her arms around him in the biggest hug of the century. ]
It's - I can't believe - you're here!
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It's not the kind of greeting he expected, and he glows red within her hold. It's so warm! Sadly, he can't free his hands to hug her back at the moment, and he's completely confused by it to begin with. He stares blankly onwards.]
Y-yes. I am indeed here! [But he's not sure why she's making a big deal of this.]
I am here to help! [That's what she wanted, isn't it? She's excited for someone to be here to help!]
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Phase II (plus bonus...)
He stares at the woman who's fished her out for a moment, then he points a foot back towards the bag, indicating the location of the tea set.]
omg....
Oh? [ She sets the rabbit down (on her lap, of course) and reaches into the bag where he indicated. She rummages around for a moment, and then - aha! She pulls out the tea set. ] Here we are! You're very clever for a bunny!
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Once he's set down, he immediately hops on over to an armchair that's among the furniture and sits in it.
In response to her compliment, all he provides is a shrug.
Simple memory isn't quire the same as being clever...]
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She sets the tea set on a small table and sits in a wicker chair. Miraculously, the tea pitcher is full. How did it not spill in that bag? How is it still warm? It is a mystery. ]
I don't suppose you'd like a cup of tea, would you?
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Huh, so the tea is that full. Interesting. The bag must have some interesting properties. ...Or it could be because this is all really digital and thus not bound to any rules of realism, but who's keeping score at this point?
At her offer, the bunny looks thoughtful for a moment, and then he nods his bunny head.]
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( I ) Attack of the Rapunzel-haired women???
Forgive me, madam. Perhaps I might be of some assistance?
( Assistance - she means - in the form of braiding her hair, which she could say she was something of an expert in the field of. )
this is going to be one hairy thread
What did you have in mind? [ Not...cutting it, hopefully. ]
Phase I
He look down, and quickly removes his armoured boot from her hair, then squints ahead into the darkness of the cave.]
Hello? Who's there?
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It's Rapunzel! It's nice to meet you! ...Unless you're a monster that talks!
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[Which is exactly what a monster might say, but... that doesn't actually occur to Terra. He continues to follow the trail of hair a little further...]
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Oookay! I'm at the end of the hair, by the way! [ In case that...wasn't obvious... ]