redmarsshit | redshift: tdm #5

redshift: tdm #5

Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.

▶ Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.

▶ All TDM threads can be considered game canon, and current players are welcome to either top-level on the TDM so prospective players can tag them, or use the prompts for logs or network posts on the communities. All threads on the TDM can be used for Activity Check.

a. don't be a sap.

Good morning, October 25th! Whether you're a confused new arrival or a current resident, you probably had some plans for today, right? Grab breakfast, visit a friend, pick some fruit, explore a new part of the massive city.

Well. Too bad. Because, as every single bot in the city will be telling you the moment you show your face, it's GOOP FESTIVAL DAY! What? You've never heard of it? Preposterous, everyone knows about the Goop Festival, it's one of the most anticipated holidays in Anchor! Haven't you been preparing for this for a week now?

The Goop Festival is a harvest celebration, in particular, a celebration of the sap-producing trees that grow wild in the Park, thick around the edges of the south side of the lake. The bots have been hard at work setting up the festival grounds in the shade of the trees in the balmy fall temperatures. There are spiles tapped into trees with buckets placed underneath that are already half-full of a thick, viscous, amber-colored sap. The bots have also set up troughs of shaved ice with long sticks nearby, with which they will demonstrate for excited residents (you are excited, right?) how to cool the sap in the ice and wrap it around the stick to make it a sort of taffy candy. That's not the only sweet surprise waiting, either.

A long table set up in the grass is loaded down with all sorts of delicious sap-related goodies, ranging from cupcakes with thick globs of sap-flavored frosting to sap-flavored jerky to sap sugar candies, and just about anything else you can imagine. There are a wide variety of offerings that would taste good coated, flavored, or glazed with the sap, which tastes sort of like a caramelized toffee. Another table is laid out that has row upon row of cups, each half-full of the sap, heated lightly to a thinner consistency and served similarly to hot chocolate - at least, if hot chocolate gave you a floaty, happy, hazy sort of feeling. Everything made with this sap does, actually, with the cups of pure sap having a stronger effect and items with less sap content having barely any effect at all.

Does this not sound like your cup of weird tree sap? Too bad. This is the GOOP FESTIVAL, and everything is shut down for this lovely paid vacation day. Spa? Locked down. Kitchens? Locked. Bar? Nope, totally shut down and the server bots are all down at the park. VR Gaming? Too bad, the computers are all shut down. Even roaming the halls and trying to stay out of the way won't help much...be prepared to be dragged down to the park to participate in this mandatory festival! Isn't it exciting?

b. familiar ground.

Every year in Anchor near the end of October, there's a very strange interaction between the protective dome over the city and seasonal radiation surges that happen in the wastelands. Some complicated combination of refraction and reflection means that for the last few days of the month, residents will experience some of the more benign effects of the red shift inside the city.

Did we say benign? Because while there may not be any dangerous radiation to melt your skin off, there are some mind-bending dangers. Characters experiencing the shift will find the world becomes distorted, warped, impossible to navigate; they are enveloped in auditory and visual hallucinations, and can become so disoriented that they can't even recognize people they've known for years. And characters will find that the citywide shift brings in slivers of other universes, little slices of places characters have never seen before...or places so familiar they make the heart beat hard with joy or fear.

And just like in the wastelands, the things that show up in these shifts are all too real. Characters may find themselves walking through a door into a scene straight from home, or from someone else's home. Whether it's a favorite place to share with a new friend, or the nightmare landscape you almost died in, complete with the monster that almost killed you, be careful. Everything you experience here is real, and if you die in the shift, you die for real.

Of course, the city has its own safety measures in place - residents experiencing the hallucinations and appearances of items and places from other worlds may find themselves locked down in the room they're in, trapped with the otherworldly effects of the shift.

c. the virus.

A few weeks ago, people in Anchor started getting a case of the sniffles. While some of the earliest cases might be clearing up, there are still a few people suffering, or people freshly infected by those who were sick earlier, including some of the new arrivals who may not even be feeling it yet.

Which may make the cause of some unexpected 'glitches' around the city a little unclear. Residents who are feeling the effects of the illness, or who are infected but not showing symptoms yet (or anymore) will find that their access to certain parts of the city are restricted. Suddenly, automatic doors aren't opening for them, as if they were ghosts, particularly when they try to access anything that may facilitate transmission of the virus. Suddenly, only some of the residents of the city will find they can't get into half of the MedBay, or the spa, the kitchens, the VR or games rooms, the bar...anywhere people gather or eat or sit close together.

Residents may put together that it's related to the illness some of them have been experiencing over the past few weeks, but it might take a while, since these safety and security measures are affecting people who are showing no symptoms yet. Be prepared for a few days of paranoia while seemingly perfectly healthy people are locked out of common areas. What does the computer know that residents don't? Are these people security risks? Is it a system glitch? What could be going on?

c. the network.

Need to get hold of someone, call for help, ask the city at large a question? Need to warn a friend not to leave their apartment unless they want to be forcibly press-ganged into the Goop Festival? Maybe you need to hold your sat phone up to whatever crazy thing you're seeing and send out a recording to double-check if your eyes are deceiving you and what you're looking at is real?

Whatever the reason, the network is going strong, so feel free to include a post to it in your top-levels.

Mod Note: The "familiar ground" prompt will be active between October 29th and October 31st; "the virus" prompt will be active until the next introductory mingle, which will be kicking off the second part of the illness plot.

Navigation.

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Cole doesn't turn at first, because he's used to being around mages and feeling that soft tremor of magic about them.

"Creak of wood around the taps, a brief moment, but it doesn't change. It's fine." He looks back over his shoulder and suddenly realises. "You're a spirit mage."

And toa spirit mage... there's something different about Cole. An otherwise very plain, gaunt young man who looks like death warmed over is softly suffused with a gold peach light. It wisps and curls around him and through him, because Cole is not a spirit inside a body, but just a spirit living out in the real world and his spirit is Compassion and kindness.

Onni listens to the explanation of how the tree feels about tapping, about how it's fine. That's what he'd expected, the trees grow strong despite this happening however frequently it happens, and the tree doesn't seem damaged or sick in any way.

When the boy looks over his shoulder at him and says he's a spirit mage, though, a lot of things become more clear in an instant. This isn't just a normal boy - with his face turned, the golden-peach glow of his spirit becomes more obvious, the way it curls around him. The way it's visible through him. Most people are solid and present, with their spirits like a halo around them, the shapes and strengths of their spirits evident in the size and intensity of the blue glow of it. This boy is like a spirit barely encapsulated inside a fragile shell of humanity, something else entirely.

For a moment, Onni finds it hard to breathe, and isn't sure if it's because he's afraid of the strange newness of this person, or if he's simply in awe because it's beautiful. Because there is a sense that there's no need to be afraid of this being.

"I am a mage. And you're Cole?"

"Yes..." He tilts his head, blinking slowly and his usually pale, washed out eyes positively glow with the inner light, faint blue and silver in contrast to the rest of him. "More spirit than anything else, fragile shell barely holding together with the light, not the too muchness of Them- Oh. Ben doesn't like Them. I want to help him like Them more, so he can like himself more. They're not bad, and neither is he. You wanted to ask me things, Onni Hotakainen?"

He turns around completely and there's little other quirks. At his hip there's a knife that isn't actually a knife; it's a part of Cole's materialised form and there's a dark green smoke that slowly leaks from it in a sluggish beat, the piece of him that is Mercy and will never be able to forget those moments.

His clothes, at least, seem to be real, in that they're grubby and stained and torn from interacting with real things. The ugly hat is also very, disappointingly real.

Ben had mentioned that Cole was sort of a mind reader, but it's still a little startling to have his own thoughts quoted back to him like that, in almost the same form that he'd had them. His eyes widen slightly, but he doesn't comment until Cole mentions Ben and 'them' and calls him by name.

He hadn't been thinking those things, but it seems Cole's mind reading goes further back than just the immediate thoughts. Interesting.

"Yes. In a way. I've been separated from my gods, and my gods are the source of my magic. I've been looking for whatever gods and spirits there are here."

It's simple enough, though Onni feels the pang of guilt and pain he always feels when he thinks about trying to command and connect with gods that aren't his own. Pushing the thought of that aside, he keeps looking at Cole, noticing more of the details of him - the way his clothing is real but his dagger isn't, the difference in how the energy of the dagger looks from the rest of him. It's seen use, then, he can tell.

After a moment, he lifts his eyes to look at Cole's face again, his expression calm and neutral even while his mind moves quickly over what he's looking at and what he's asking.

"I don't really know what gods are, except spirits by another name." Cole isn't wearing his other knives right now, but he rubs his shoulder where the holster usually sits. "But in Thedas, where I come from, spirit mages call on spirits to perform magic. Spirit healers call on Compassion, to heal, to numb, to soothe."

His nose wrinkles a little. "If there are others here? Spirits? The Red Shift has changed them beyond what I know. Shredded and stripped and screamed them to something else."

"Mm, that's accurate enough." he says, pale eyes still locked on Cole while he listens to what he's saying, expression interested and intent. Cole explains how spirit mages work in his home of Thedas, and makes a soft hum in his throat - it really is close enough to what Onni does with his own gods that he feels a little spike of excitement, of hope. Hope that maybe they won't be relying on Reynir's runes and Lalli's rifle for safety, that he'll have some chance of being able to protect the people he cares for.

And when Cole says that spirit healers call on Compassion for their trade, he tilts his head, curious.

"And that's you, isn't it? Is your name Compassion?" He asks it in a low, interested voice, his gaze fixed intently on Cole's face.

The information about other spirits here having been changed by the red shift is disheartening, but Onni thinks that maybe, maybe he can manage to find some that still know how to listen. His luonto is strong, he thinks perhaps he can work with spirits that other mages might not be able to. There's no shred of ego in it, simply a knowledge of his own limits and abilities.

But that's for later. For now, he's more interested in Cole's answer.

Cole, rather than answering about his name, continues talking about the spirits that Onni's thinking about.

"There might be others here. I don't know. I have nothing they want and I don't reach back across the Veil. I don't like it over there. I don't belong anymore. And yes, I'm Compassion-who-was-Cole-who-was-Mercy. But most people call me Cole."

He gets there eventually. Usually.

"The Veil?"

It's not a term he's heard used in his own spiritual canon, and he's never heard of it in another context, aside from the type of clothing called a veil. In context, he can guess at what it is, but he'd rather have confirmation than just assuming. It's best to work from concrete knowledge, not best guesses and speculation, when such a thing is possible.

When Cole confirms that he is Compassion but that he was Cole first, and before that Mercy, it's a little confusing. Onni blinks, his head tilting in interest.

"That's what I'll call you then, if it's your preference." he says, his voice a little cautious. Cole is different than most spirits he's contacted or been around - his own pantheon seems more inclined to command deference rather than demand, but he has no desire to demand things of Cole, who seems very open, willing to talk about himself and who is called Compassion.

"I wonder, have you ever worked with a mage before?" he asks, after a moment, his voice still cautious and curious.

Edited 2019-11-04 21:29 (UTC)

"I was Compassion before anything else. Then I became Cole, became Mercy, became Cole, remembered I was Compassion. I remember all those beings." Most spirits in Thedas don't remember. They simply are. But Cole grasps linear time progression.

"The Veil separates here and the Fade. And I don't know if I have or not. I haven't from this side, since I came through."

The way that Cole speaks about being a spirit and then a person and a spirit again, says he remembers them like that's unique, makes Onni think that perhaps there is some difference between spirits in his own world and those in Cole's world. Still, there are also a lot of similarities, and Onni finds it fascinating, he can feel the curiosity, the academic interest, stirring in him. And the anticipation, the excitement at the concept of being able to speak to a spirit in the way he's speaking to Cole.

"I thought that might be the case, about the Veil. Is the Fade the world of the spirits, where you come from?"

He can't help the curiosity in his question, because spirits and religion have always fascinated him.

"Yes. Spirits, dreams, magic, emotions sometimes. Memories collect there. But I understand linear time."

That's a big deal, okay?

"You want to see if you can cast magic with me. That's okay. We can do that."

"You're Compassion, but you feel you don't belong there, the Fade? Is that because of Cole?" he asks, his voice calm and neutral as he can make it, though he feels a spark of concern for this spirit. At the thought of this spirit, this boy who must feel so out of place.

It's new to him that spirits might not understand linear time as a norm, but it also doesn't surprise him that ageless creatures like spirits wouldn't be familiar with the concept. He makes a soft 'mm' of interest, and then blinks when Cole clearly says that Onni wants to see if he can cast magic with him and agrees to it.

"Ah." It's all he can get out at first, because he's so surprised by being called out like that, even though it had been in the back of his mind. After a moment, he lifts his chin and meets Cole's eyes, "I had intended to ask politely. Sorry."

"Not now. I'm unique. I can help more on this side." It's complicated and would take explaining a lot about Thedas to make it clear what happened to make him who and what he is.

"You miss the spirits of your world, it hurts you being without, so I know. I can help. I'm happy to help, that's what I am. Do. Yes."

"I see."

And he does, honestly. It makes sense, when combined with how Onni can tell that there's something different about this spirit from the others back home, from the other supernatural entities he's run into here. A spirit, yes, but that fragile shell of humanity isn't breaking as easily as he might have thought it would.

It also fits with this spirit's name and the feeling of him, when he says that he can help more here, and that he can help Onni with missing the spirits of his world. That he can help with how it hurts him to be without. It's really only then that Onni recognizes that that is true, that it does hurt to be disconnected from his gods, so far from home, to be away from the forest that he belongs to. It doesn't hurt as much as the loss of his sister, though, the way it feels is a drop in a bucket compared to the yawning abyss of grief at that, and so he'd barely noticed.

"You're right. I do miss them. You have no obligation to help me, or help the others here, but I would be honored if you would be willing to try to work with me. Maybe, then, if someone is hurt, we can help even more."

"I want to help. If I can help, I want to help. I can't help your grief, but I can help you with this."

He then just stands there. It's on Onni to actually give some direction to this.

When Cole mentions being unable to help with his grief, Onni's chin raises and he looks at the spirit again, brows slightly furrowed.

"Nothing can help with that. I'm told that time will, but I can't imagine it yet. In the meantime, if we can help the people here, I'd like to try."

For a moment, he's quiet, and then he takes a careful, measured breath, "At home, I speak to spirits through songs and poems. How do mages speak to spirits in your home?"

"Time doesn't help with grief. What you do with time, that can help heal grief." It's a very different thing and a lot of people miss that fact.

Cole doesn't really understand the question. "Whatever way that gets the spirit to hear? I don't know. I'm not a mage."

When Cole says that, the space between Onni's brows wrinkles slightly with confusion, "What do you mean?"

Maybe, if Cole can explain it, Onni might finally understand why it is he still grieves so intensely for his parents and aunt and uncle and grandmother and everyone else in his village. Everyone else he'd ever known.

Taking a breath, he tries to brush it off.

"I see. I can try it in my usual way, perhaps, and see if it speaks to you. If not, I'm sure we can work it out, providing we both want to do what we're doing."

"Time doesn't heal things. What you do with that time does. Healing from grief doesn't just happen. Like any wound, it needs care to heal right, to stop it distorting your soul."

Grief can leave scars that pulls the entire soul out of shape.

"Sure. Whatever feels right for you."

It's a little unnerving, despite knowing that Cole is a spirit, to have him reciting Onni's private thoughts and feelings back to him, aloud for anyone to hear. Even when he's the one who'd asked for it.

Cole says that grief needs care to heal, and Onni makes a soft 'mm' in his throat. That's not something he knows how to do. Not for himself.

The question of magic is easier, and when Cole says to do whatever feels right to him, Onni exhales and closes his eyes for a moment, finds the rhythm he's looking for, and starts to speak, his voice softer as he starts with an entreaty to Compassion, as a concept. A request for healing.

Cole feels the song and the call. He just relaxes and lets his power be called on, lets the desire to help others flood from Onni to himself and back again, warming Onni's chest and hands with the soft, peachy light of Compassion.

Once he's speaking in that particular lilt that isn't quite the same as the one he calls upon the gods with at home, but feels natural when calling upon this spirit of Compassion, it starts to flow easily. He can feel the exchange of energy, he holds it warm inside himself, transferring between them with something like the energy he feels when he calls on Mielikki for her help, something he does quite often at home, for healing and protection.

After a few moments, he exhales heavily and lets go of the energy, since there's nothing to use it for at the moment. After he does, he relaxes for a second and then opens his eyes.

"It seems we can do it, after all."

Cole can feel the churn of energy, settling into a pond of energy that resides in him, that he can offer out to Onni through channels and then pull back to himself. Being called on is his choice, one he will always choose, but it is technically something he could deny, he realises.

He looks at Onni and nods. "We can."

That is the way of the noita, the Finnish mages. To ask if possible, demand if necessary, but never to force. Spirits and gods and the elements of the Earth must be respected, and the most powerful spells are those that are worked through the cooperation of the mage and the spirit.

This, he thinks, will be a good partnership. Cole is a strong spirit, and he is a strong mage, and there is a great deal of good they could do, if anyone were to be injured.

"Would you object to me calling on you if someone is injured, then? And, perhaps, we could see if there's any other type of magic we could do together. To help."

"No. I'll always help. I can't do this on my own anymore. I could once." Maybe? He thinks he did, before there was 'time' and 'space', when there were just moments.

"My kind have been called on to cure disease and heal wounds. To restore the mind, to repel evil intent. I don't know what else. I don't remember."

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