The desert. It's hot. It's sandy. It's filled with creepy monsters and things. But mostly it's hot and sandy and there's a whole lot of nothing. You appear and wonder "why am I here? What is there to do here? Is that a cow skull? Do cows live out here in this desert? How can cows live in the desert? Maybe it's a horse?" These are all very complicated questions with equally complicated answers but there's no one to provide them no matter where you look. Instead, you're given the option of walking. Forwards, backwards, to your right, to your left, any direction is yours to take. Try not to die from dehydration or something, that would be a sad ViViD death and the cow-horse skull might start laughing at you. I mean, you'll just start over from the beginning anyway but still.
Welcome to ViViD's new line of Vacation Spotlights: Desert Edition.
Moo-Neigh.
 One wish, that's all you get.
Make it snappy, I don't have all day.
Actually, I have eternity but I just don't want to spend it with you.
|
PHASE I [ 6 00 ] So.
There's sand.
In fact, there's so much sand that there's probably already sand in your shoes and your shorts and all sorts of other places that aren't fun to have sand in. It stretches for miles and miles, in large dunes and deep dips, and above it all there are three suns that beat down upon everyone's backs. Why three? Because why not, that's why. Enjoy the sunshine and try not to get sunburnt.
You've got a long ways to travel before you find anything but sand, but thankfully you're not alone -- there are a bunch of unfortunate stragglers who are out with you, so it's time to make some friends as you travel. You've got pleeeeenty of time. No water though. Or food. Or... anything but human interaction.
Thankfully, it's only a matter of time before you stumble across your hot new ride. Thankfully, it seats two, so you and your new friend can enjoy a cramped road trip. You, this relative stranger, and the great... sandy... unknown! Good luck!
PHASE II [ 645 ] If you prefer to not take your ride, you're going to wish that you did soon enough. Every desert level has to have desert monsters, after all. You're walking through the sand, trying to make it to somewhere that isn't sand, and then suddenly, the sand worms appear.
Or.
Well.
They try.
Unfortunately, they're little more than 5 or 6 inches tall apiece, and they'll mostly try to eat your shoes and socks. How scary.
Alternatively, if you have actually taken that sweet ride of yours on an adventure through the desert, you're going to hit something at one point. It makes a rather pitiful scream and there's a small bump underneath your tire before your car comes to a stop. You just ran over a sand worm.
Anyone who is intrepid enough to kill a sand worm though will find one interesting thing about them. They're filled with water, and you are very, very thirsty. Ew.
PHASE III [ 1000 ] It sure is hot.
And unless you've devoured one of those poor, sad, screaming sand worms, there's no water to be found. It feels as though you've been wandering in circles for ages, so perhaps it's really no surprise that the heat starts to get to you. First come the headaches, and the thirst. Then the dizziness and vertigo.
And finally, the mirages.
What you see is a waterfall cascading into a crystal pool, beautiful and pristine and painfully cool. It's just begging for you to come enjoy it, and -- wait, there's one more thing. Standing in front of that pool is either someone you care about immensely or someone you hate immensely.
And either way, the things they say or do will be the same. First they reach for you, beckoning, and they they start to detail all of the things they'd like to do to you. NSFW, SFW, loving or cruel or so many things in between, all that's honestly consistent is that it's pretty shocking.
Oh, and awkwardly, it seems as though anyone with you can see and hear that hallucination too. That's embarrassing.
PHASE IV [ 1215 ] Eventually, though, you'll find your destination. Or... at least, it seems like it should be the destination. The tiny temple is at least a change from the endless sand, and in the middle of it, there's a lamp. That sure looks familiar.
If you rub the lamp, of course, you'll release the genie, and he'll glance at you, and inspect his fingernails as though you're hardly worth his time, and offer you one, single wish.
As soon as you make it, well... You'll get the opposite of what you wish for with a sudden apology note in your hand. The card will read "Sorry, this level isn't entirely finished yet - Mosley" before immediately disappearing. Your wish will only apply in ViViD, of course, but hopefully you didn't wish for anything too crazy, or you might have made the level Much Harder for everyone around you.
BONUS [ why o'clock ] One second you're walking along the desert sand, enjoying the eternally same view, and the next there's a sudden pinch on your ankle, and a scorpion monster scuttles away quickly. Whoops, looks like you've been stung.
But it's not poison, it would seem. Aside from feeling a little odd and having a mild fever, you're fine.
More importantly, you've now found yourself in possession of some... new powers (a la Spider-man), and they're...
Well, they're useless.
Maybe you can summon water now, but... only sulfur water. Perhaps you can now make pretty light shows and that's about all. You can see the future but only the next three seconds. The possibilities are endless, but what's for certain is that they're all completely and utterly useless to you.
What the fuck, ViViD.
[ 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. ] |
![[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}
wildcard!
so once she has the genie appear and his nonchalant attitude with ignoring the young emperor, she only smiles as she gives her request with ease and no second thought. )
I wish and command that you do not bring my Praetor here!
( there! easy and simple without any regrets. now the typical response is given, that this level isn't finished but as she looks around. where is her "wish", the opposite of what she's asked for? as much as she's wondering who it'll be that she'd meet, by it Hakuno or Guda(k)o, she is ready to see who she'll be stuck with. )
no subject
Ugh...!
( The sound leaves his throat as his body rolls across the sand, stopping relatively quickly as it piles up behind him and even more slips under his clothes. Heisuke groans as he pushes himself back up, but gets back to his feet with minimal dizziness, holding his sword in front of him when —
Wait a second, what's that cute girl doing here? )
Hey, you! Can't you see it's dangerous here?! Get back inside!
no subject
Dangerous?! Hah! I find this place to be nothing but uncanny to your typical child's play!
( it's time for her run down of analyzing. the sword is next to catch her attention, it's polished and has been take care of quite well. she can't guess how many battles it has seen but she believes it to be more than enough; this coming from the fact that it's not in it's sheathe. the lamp in her hands falls to the ground, swallowed up by the sand because of the vibrations that course through it. from what? as soon as the dust dies down for her to see, there's a large scorpion that glides through the sand. it's red eyes locked on the male and the smaller female is none of it's concern.
leave it to a monster of this caliber to create some sort of wet ball with the sand that it kicks up and then launches it directly at the two. it's slow, the thick air around them holds the force of it back but they should get out the way, in which nero grabs this unknown stranger by the collar of his outfit and quickly throws him off to the side. now for the goop? it hits right in the area where nero had been standing, sand kicking up in the air to block heisuke's vision once more. perhaps he should get to his feet, the monster begins to scuffle along the sand as if it's searching while it has this sand up. )
no subject
( There's a bit of a cry out as he's picked up and tossed aside, and honestly, what is with these superhumanly strong people in this place? This is supposed to be a game, right; they probably jsut got a level up or something, because that's the only excuse that Heisuke can come up with for why such a small girl could so effortlessly throw him away from the scene.
Not that he's going to let it stay that way.
As soon as he's hit the sand he's already scrambling back to his feet, and even though his vision is obscured, it's not in his nature to let somebody behind in a situation like this. It's not necessary. So he dashes straight to where that bright red dress had been moments before, one hand ahead of him to reach for her, and eyes sharp while his other grips his blade in case he's greeted by their other unfortunate guest. )
no subject
How smart, it seems common bugs are smarter than even that of humans! To hide like that.. I will find it. ( though this goop isn't only to keep her still, it's nutrients for the younger children as well. if heisuke is paying attention, he can find that there's movement in the ground that's rapidly targeting one single direction. he can probably hear her voice even as the rapid winds is meant to block their sight. )
.... How disgusting. I need a bath when I leave this putrid place! ( there's stingers that stick up from the ground in heisuke's view and if he moves closer, he can find nero and perhaps a few more stingers about to come up from the ground in order to inflict some sort of poison. )