You know what everyone needs after rampant robotic attacks and another iteration of clone wars? A vacation! That’s right everyone, you deserve this. CERES understands what you need. CERES is here for you all the time, so never doubt that this is a pleasure colony, and they are here to look after all of your needs. Kick your feet up, relax, and let CERES Recreation and Activity Necessity Keepers (Team RANK, that is) set you up with your ideal getaway.
It’s as if you can sense the incoming relaxation and luxury before you even completely finish loading. There’s the warmth encompassing your entire body as your code gets transferred into this particular ViViD Level. A cool, refreshing breeze hits you. The sounds of waves gently lapping against the coast fill you with relaxation. The sun, the sand, the surfs, it’s all there – welcome to the beach, baby!
An echoing greeting message from the ocean comes next, if you can translate it.
 OOOOOOOOOOOOHMAHH GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHD.
YOOOOOOOOOOOORRRALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOO KYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT.
KYOOOOOOOOOOOT EEEENAAAAUUUUUUUF TOOOOOOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEEEEEEEEET.
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PHASE I [ 08 00 ] That said, isn’t that breeze a little… too strong? It feels like it’s brushing up against all of you, if you know what I mean. When you open your eyes and look down, it becomes rather clear why. It seems that you’ve found yourself in some pretty interesting attire. Everyone. No exceptions. You appear to have two options – be overcome and scream like the Victorian maiden your heart says you are, or strut like a model in this stuff. Turn some heads! Work that up do!
But don’t worry, we’re also conscious about safety here at CERES! Therefore everyone’s also been provided a pair of super high-tech safety-tested appendage protection floatation devices (STAPFD for short.)
At least everyone around you is caught in the same sort of attire – and everyone around you also appears to be stuck inside a giant sand castle. It’s entirely malleable to what you want it to be! Want to see a fancy sand bidet? Feel like adding a sand statue in your honor? Think that wall should now be a door? Well, with enough perseverance, you can make it happen!
Just uh, be careful about getting sand in your… everywhere.
PHASE II [ 1000 ] Someone broke it. Not pointing any fingers, even though you sure do seem like a prime suspect, but someone broke it.
It almost starts like an earthquake with how the castle starts to rumble, the sand shaking right beneath your feet. And then the walls right next to you start to cave in followed promptly by the ceiling right… above your head. Oh dear. The sand starts to run and fall, losing its structure and shape. The hallway behind you starts to cave in, ceiling first and then the walls follow suit. Now the sand really is getting everywhere – but not just uncomfortable places. It’s in your hair, your eyes, your nose…. this sure doesn’t seem like a pleasant way to go!
Best to start running – there’s a trusty drawbridge to get over the moat (because what’s a sandcastle without a moat?) but who knows how long until that, too, is going to give way? Best to cross over it before it starts to shake and disappear too. Or if you don’t make it, hopefully you can land some pretty impressive airtime to make it to the other side!
If not, well...there'll be the sensation of sand crushing down upon you, filling your mouth and eyes, and you won't be able to breathe at all – and then you're alive again on the beach (but possibly in yet another new, uncomfortable, skimpy swimsuit). Honestly, be more careful, would you?
PHASE III [ 1200 ] However, once you do make it to the other side, it’s all smooth sailing from there! Or is it? Hah, as they say, life sure can be a beach.
Which is what this is.
Welcome to your Beach Episode, folks. Now that you’ve made it out of the collapsing sand castle, you’ve made it to the luxurious, picturesque golden coastline. Sure, you’re coughing up fine, luxurious, sand dust right now and you’ve definitely gotten sand in all of your crevices thanks to your swimsuit, but that’s okay! Go take a soak in the ocean or something or cool off with a smoothie. There’s a smoothie shack off into the distance, complete with a long chalkboard with… well, probably a few familiar names? And some unfamiliar ingredients. Sounds appetizing right?
That said, once you do ingest some of the smoothie with the name of a newcomer, you might suddenly find yourself feeling a bit… different. You’ll be taking on some of their traits, one of the most intense parts of their personality – or you might need to take a second to sit down because you’re suddenly seeing one of their memories. Whoa. What do they actually put in this stuff?
PHASE IV [ 1500 ] For the brave souls that venture out into the water, you have even more adventures waiting for you. Anyone who’s swimming around, wading in the water—hell, even looking at the water is getting scooped up and deposited in one of these giant orbs. But don’t take up too much room, because someone else is getting shoved right in there with you. Time to get cozy with your new friend, because it's only going to get worse as the waves begin to carry you out into this big, blue, virtual ocean. Hopefully the choppy waves don’t bounce you around too much or – well, you could always get really friendly with a stranger! Why not?
At least until it’s made very clear that fresh air does not make it back into these balls. That seems like a bit of a design flaw. Now what? Fight the other person who’s inhaling all your air? Suffer through it for swimsuit-clad fun? Or if you break it…. well, you sure are stranded out in the ocean. Or are you?
After enough flailing, you’ll be met by a giant, dumb-looking creature who will then eat you whole.
Everything goes dark. This is surely the end --
And then you're in Cerealia proper; it seems that was the exit to the level (but why there?) and you'll find yourself either in one of the fountains or the pond in the park. Either way, you'll be very, very well. And this time, that's not virtual. But hey, at least you'll have all of your stuff with you.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Do you hear that?
Anyone idle on the beach will hear a distant melody coming from further out into the ocean. It’s a beautiful, elegant song that automatically makes the listener stop what they’re doing and immediately wander toward the noise. It takes you a moment to recall – it takes a moment to think about anything now, really – but you remember hearing the smoothie shack owner say something about mermaids populating the beach. Could this be their song calling out to you? Whether you would normally abide by this kind of call or not, you find your feet walking further and further out into the water, the shallows lapping up to your ankles and up and up as you are drawn in by the song.
A rather classic song, though the usual instances of French are also replaced with the very enticing, enchanting nonsense promise of omelette du fromage........and then they try to drown you.
[ 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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Darin Altway
I am... happy to ensure your comfort?
[DARIN U WEIRD.]
Why did you ask?
Re: Darin Altway
[Okay, he can work with this.]
O-Oh, you know...
Where I come from, organizations like yours get their orders from higher ups and higher ups usually have agendas. Y'know?
So it was purely hypothetical. I mean, it would suck pretty hard if you had to murder everything that you thought was...y'know. Tainted and evil and there to bring about the worldly apocalypse when maybe some of them don't deserve to die and were bound by circumstances out of their control themselves...
[Okay, you're rambling. Wrap it up. Wrap it up!]
[He clamps a hand on her shoulder.]
You're a good person.
[Yes, good, perfect. If not a little too intense.]
[He's screwed.]
no subject
[Plus she's tiny, so the shoulder clamp pushes her down into the sand a good inch, and she has to straighten herself up before she can address Darin again. By literally looking up at him while trying to seem authoritative, clearing her throat and everything.]
I, ah, thank you!
You're a good person, too.
no subject
[If there were ever the time for nervous laughter, it would be right this second.]
[Also, the ideal for some awkward silence. Which is also happening.]
[And then Darin turns extra cheery.]
Sounds like you Inquisition types are an alright bunch. You in the market for gear and equipment?
no subject
[I mean, Lavellan is awkward at times, but this is taking the cake.]
[But wait. Wait!!! There's a nice conversation hook!!!]
Back home we had a whole team dedicated to the procurement and creation of equipment.
However, as you can imagine, I don't have such a team here. Why do you ask?
no subject
no subject
A bold claim to make to someone you've just met!
no subject
And a master blacksmith to boot. My wares are better than my salesmanship, but that's because my work speaks for itself.
[This pompous asshole.]
no subject
[But no, she likes the fact that he's confident in his work. It's just...]
...While I don't doubt your word, it's kind of hard to have your work speak for itself when we've no way to actually look at it.
[Because. Bathing suits.]
no subject
[He rubs his chin.]
Tell you what. Once we...y'know...get our clothes back and get situated, I plan on getting back to work. From what I've heard around here, quality weapons and gear are a pretty high commodity. I'll show you what I can do firsthand, and if you think I'm up to snuff? I wouldn't mind lending my services to your group.
[Provided they don't come after him if they ever find out what he is.]
[What could possibly go wrong?]
no subject
[That being said, everything. Everything can go wrong.]
It's a deal!
However, I don't foresee the need for as large a supply that is needed back home where the Inquisition is a full-sized army. Here, I believe our numbers will be much smaller.
Is that all right with you?
no subject
At least with smaller orders I can focus on balancing and weighting each weapon to the individual.
It's like I always say, your gear shouldn't feel like gear at all.
no subject
[She already has enough issues getting her friends and peers to go to hell to bed before they work themselves to death. She doesn't need to add a new buddy to the list!!!]
Have you made much armor for mages, in that case? Because I must say the equipment worn by our warriors is immense. I could never imagine wearing something like that.
no subject
Before I got caught up in that murder nonsense [Wait, murder nonsense?] I was working on some concepts for some lightweight armor that can be worn by scouts. I can probably directly apply that to something for you. Maybe line your clothes or robes with a lightweight metal mesh weave akin to chainmail...
[Don't mind him, Lavellan...he's crouching down in the sand and making some doodles with his fingers.]
Depending on the metal I use and how tightly knit the ringlets are...
Maybe if I layer it like plate mail...hrm...but would that lessen the overall flexibility...?
[He's literally doodling out a proof of concept in the sand.]
no subject
[She smiles and nods like she knows exactly what's going on.]
I see!
no subject
[Finally, if she hasn't left or grown bored or totally forgotten about him, he snaps his fingers.]
Alright, I think I have a solid idea in my mind. I'd have to get a closer look at your normal gear first to make sure it works out, but I think I can make something that'll suit you fine!
no subject
[Which is apparently a big deal when it comes from the Inquisitor, according to her followers. The reality is that Aeneth just happens to enjoy sharing things.]
I look forward to working together.