« 002 ⇢ event001.exe »

[reparator]

Who: Everyone ever.
When: 09/14-09/30 (ooc)
Where: Within ViViD/Entertainment District
What: Hardcore gaming.
Rating/Warning: PG-13

//event001.EXE It's my party and I'll tank if I want to! ( Dates: 09/14 to 09/30 ) Welcome, new players, and old, alike. So, remember getting into the lovely little test drive that you found some new friends in? We hope you've been helping some of them out, it's good to make friends. But! Our lovely scientists have been hard at work, and they've finally released a proper, completed stage to help you all along into the world of Tellus. Or just messed that up too. Unfortunately for most people, with the release of the beta version of this new level of ViViD, the new arrivals will also be shoved right in (with all their received items in a special pouch they can transport out of the game with them) and have to be helped out until they can get to a logout portal, or risk being stuck in there for a while! Yes, friends, YOU will have to go into the game and help the newcomers get out, or risk certain dragony death. On the 14th of September, signs and advertisements will start flashing for those in-game already. Welcome to the world of Cadmus, a vaguely Greek-inspired fantasy-based land, covered in dragons, and we thank those who played in our beta stage. Players, you have done well- but the three guardian dragons (Ismen, Colchi and Nemeus) are still at large, and we need your assistance bringing them down! The adventure is within ViViD, and you'll bring their scales to the Queen, who needs them to survive. Unfortunately, everyone can carry only one scale each because once a group defeats them, the dragons' bodies will vanish, but until this period of the game, they will keep reviving until the queen is healthy enough to help silence them for good. Do not fear, though! The land itself is filled with several mountains, waterfalls, and large castles/castle towns, a beautiful sight to see. Technology is very sparse inside, however, and players will be relying on their own abilities to carry out the mission to completion. Oh, and there may be people who need rescuing... can you get to them in time? And the compulsion to participate will be strong. So, players, will you and your team be able to rescue the poor folk stuck in there , and defeat the dragons, and get the scales to rescue the queen? Well. Time will tell, of course! The situation is simple: For New Arrivals: ✩ New players will be part of the group of folk needing rescuing and escape. New players WON'T leave the game after their arrival briefing, and end up in this little glitch of a system. Those that weren't in the test drive will end up here post-arrival briefing! ✩ Once a character already in the game reaches a newcomer, an escape portal will open up instantly on a point on the map. Both parties can log out from there and enter the colony, or they can band together to keep playing. Note that once they find the portal (they may have to fight some enemies to get to it, but they'll have a map!) they can log in and log out normally. ✩ New Arrivals can escape/log out once they join a party with another newcomer as well if someone in-game hasn't found them, and find an escape portal which will appear in random, dangerous locations where they may have to fight enemies. They'll level up and their options to log out will appear when they find the portal (and they'll be led to it with a map!) But only if they join up with another newcomer! (this info will be revealed to them once they're in the vicinity of another new arrival) ✩ If your newly-arrived character goes solo, well... they'd better be ready to fight a dragon to escape, because that will be the only way they'll get out. If they reach GAME OVER through death, they'll wake up in CERES' Hospital and be inactive for a day. You can log in and log out as many times as needed, and once a group of players has defeated all three dragons, they won't have to fight them again nor will they be compelled to join the game once more (but they can log in and help others who haven't defeated them yet!) For Players Already In The Game: ✩ Compulsion to play will be high, and soon, you'll know why! ✩ Remember the details you have as well. There will be people who appear to look like people your characters know, and the virus will make them act erratically and attack your own. Be wary and be swift! ✩ Helping the new arrivals will allow them to log out easily, much more easily than they would going solo or with another newcomer. Your characters will get information on-screen telling them this, and it'll be nice to follow! ✩ Players already in-game can log in and out any time. During this period of time, the dragons will respawn to fight those who haven't defeated them yet. Getting those scales to the queen is important, so make sure you get through to them! Side Quests : Knights in Seed Buns ( Dates: 09/14 to 09/21 ) Remember those Knight Burgers? Yeah, hah hah ha... players who ate them during Cerealia Welcome Barbecue will be experiencing certain interesting side-effects that can only be fixed by either getting to the hospital- or performing a side quest in the Cadmus Event, to look for the Tree of Asclepius.. This will be pointed on the north of the map, guarded by the Priestess who was in the beta stage. She will however, be different and may attack those who try to steal- she will be more hesitant to let people delegated to fight for their friends take the fruit, but she'll give in once you fight her protector, The Talon. Don't worry, he's harmless... and will participate in a duel to defeat and kill him (he'll respawn after) to hand the fruit to the player from the tree. Players who don't delegate, and are feeling the ill effects and complete the mission while making it to the tree themselves will bypass the battle. This information will all appear on-screen! This side-quest can be played on this log, with newcomers and old players alike! Also feel free to make your own logs through the week for the non-game parts!

//SCENARIOS.EXE PHASE I [ xxxx ] You're logged in, you have your objective. Your character is exploring the world of Cadmus, meeting friends and enemies alike. The NPCs are kind enough, providing directions. There are even a few minor enemies to battle as you gear up to handle the big bosses. For the new arrivals, they will be waking up immersed in the game straight from being pulled from the nexus code. They won't know they're in a game for the most part, not until the peculiarities start to pile up. Hurry up and start asking questions. Team up where you can and get the hell out as fast as you can. PHASE II [ xxxx ] While immersed and exploring the terrain, familiar faces start to appear, those from your world that you've been thinking of, missing, obsessing over. They seem sweet and cheery enough, a smile on their face as they spit out generic information. At first, it's strange, but then you start to notice their tone becoming more and more hostile. Within moments, your weapon is in their hand, and they're attacking without warning, looking for the fastest way to send you into the dreaded game over by forcing you to fight against your own move set. These corrupted NPCs will continue to appear all over for the next few weeks, the result of a digital virus infecting the game, so beware of sudden death. PHASE III [ xxxx ] The dragons are waiting for you to pluck scales off them, looking harmless enough. You think they're cute and cuddly and might go in for a bit of a petting. Then suddenly, they'll reveal their true forms to you, face delightfully splitting open to show off a black hole of teeth, teeth, and nothing but teeth. It's your choice whether you want to take them on or wet yourself a little, but they'll be coming after you regardless. PHASE IV [ xxxx ] For those suffering from the horrid Knight Burgers, the end of the road is the Tree of Asclepius Quest. Look above for further information. BONUS [ whyo'clock ] Congratulations! You've won, and now, your character is able to log out successfully. With great success comes great prizes. As your character remains seated and hooked up to then ViViD console, they'll be approached by a robotic stripper of either sex. Yes, your prize (for completing, other prizes will come up later) is a CERES-sponsored lap dance, complete with a stripper scantily dressed in fabric stamped with the CERES logo on it. Within the nexus code, a delightful tune was recovered to accompany the scintillating gyrations of said stripper. You are now the Drake to their Nikki Minaj. Run while you can. [ You can choose to set your threads in the game or before/after if you'd like. Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with trigger-y or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ]

//ETC.EXE ✩ Make your own top-level posts on any dates or a range of dates, and plunge into adventure! Open them up to newcomers or all, and post some starters to get going! You can post as many as you want, anywhere and all. ✩ Once dragons are defeated for a player and their party, they won't have to fight them again. They'll respawn for the duration of the event, but they'll be considered defeated by them unless they join a party where a group of players hasn't defeated them. ✩ Players already in the game can log in/log out at their leisure. Players newly arrived to the game will only be able to do so once they've found a portal, after which, they'll be able to log in and out as the others. ✩ At the end of the event, the Queen will be revived and she will destroy the dragon spawn core, freeing everyone from the compulsion of playing. ✩ Credits and Prizes will be rewarded at the end of the gaming period. We'll put up an OOC post then, and ask for whoever feels they accomplished the mission to reply. ✩ Defeat of the dragons if your character managed them all can be handwaved, however, if your character is physically incapable of doing so, please do not say that they did just to get the credits and prizes (15,000 credits per dragon for all players in the party!). ✩ All participants, whether they accomplished the missions or not, will get prizes, so go on and slay some dragons! Also, remember our NPCs? They'll show up at random to help and assist those that need it. If an NPC's help is urgently required, please put in a thread titled "Open to NPCs" and set it at the city center fountain within the game, and they will show up there to reply! ... and Ceres Inc would like to apologize for this glitch in gaming for the New Arrivals, and hope you will continue to help their research.

Comments

phase iii

[duad]

[ There's one dragon that has it's eyes set on Mary, but all she can do is keep low and stay hidden until she comes up with a plan to either get away from it or... defeat it (somehow). She's not a fighter and she definitely doesn't play enough video games — if only Roxy was here to help her with something like that.

When she sees someone lunging toward a dragon, she looks around for some assistance and finds a good enough sized rock. It doesn't look like he will quite make a strong enough hit, so she figures the only way to help give him the advantage.

Mary looks over her shoulder to see where the dragon seeking her is and when she gauges that she's at a good distance to step out, Mary lunges the rock at the dragon that's heading for Okita. ]

[tuberculosis]

[before his sword can make impact with the dragon, he sees the rock that comes flying past through his field of vision.

well, that was definitely unexpected.

he can really only afford to take his eyes off it for a couple of moments, but he looks over to mary, expression sitting somewhere in the middle of surprised, impressed and amused.]

Oh? That's pretty brave of you, since I wasn't looking for help. I hope you don't plan on blaming me if he ends up killing you. [don't mind him, mary. he's just a shitlord about these sorts of things, even if he does appreciate it... though it'll probably land her in the line of fire. of course, that's also what makes him say that it's a pretty brave mood. in any case, it does the trick to distract the dragon just long enough...

maybe because its attention is diverting to the source. still, it gives souji an opportunity to make another lunge, and this one will connect with the dragon's tail.] It's not much fun for me if you keep trying to fight with other people, you know! At least play with people who have weapons to fight back with.

[it's not so much trying to reason with a dragon as it is shit-talking, for whatever that's worth.]

[duad]

K—Killing me?! I was just trying to hel—

[ She hears a screeching cry behind her and realizes that the other dragon is now aware of her presence. As annoyed as she is by his words, her life (virtual or not) is more important. Death's already happened to her once and she's not going to let it happen to her again, especally if she's trying to help someone else with this antidote.

Mary looks around for a proper place to take cover, then watches the dragon she threw a rock at coming toward her direction too. Frozen in place, she tries to think of a quick plan. The only problem is... she's never had to fight something before, so she doesn't know where to start. ]

Uh... maybe we should help to figure out how to stop both of them?

[tuberculosis]

You've really gotten yourself into quite a mess, you know. Distracting one when you already have your hands full? It's difficult to tell if that's brave or just foolish.

[for a moment, he turns his attention back to mary. his words are harsh, and definitely betray the lighthearted manner in which he continues to speak. souji's actually trying to hold back a bit of a laugh, if only because it's clear to him that she really has no idea just what it is she's getting into right now. maybe not the entire experience in ViVid (though maybe that, he's not sure... nor does he care very much), but at least souji himself.

it's all pretty brief, though. he knows that as skilled as he may be, taking his attention off the dragons for even a moment could prove to be deadly. sure, he's got a few tricks hidden up his sleeves, but souji would rather not expose them so soon if at all possible.

and though he'll lay claim to not caring much one way or the other for her wellp-being, he really doesn't have much interest in letting someone die so easily. with both dragons aiming for her, all souji can do is pause the conversation; talking about figuring it out isn't going to slow the beasts down, after all. instead, he's lunging for one of them, allowing a blade to slice into the leg of one of the dragons. it's not much, but until he knows what mary can (or can't) do, he knows it's better to shift their attention towards him. for better or for worse.] Do you know your way around a battlefield at all?

[he'll call the words out in his short breaks, eyes still narrowed on his opponents. the quicker he finds that out, the better.]

[duad]

[ She huffs, not pleased with his attitude. There's nothing more she hates than being talked down to, that kind of "authority" just fans the flames of her Misfit rebellion that's always been a part of her from the start. Even if she is inexperienced with ViVid, there's no way she's going to take this lying down. Her fingers curl into fists, nails biting into her palms.

What does it matter? She's dead anyway. ]

You're one to talk trash! I could just leave you with the two of them, you know!

[ There is a genuine anger in her voice. It's clear she's tired of all of this, even if she's doing it for her friends, and his smarminess is the straw that breaks the camels back. Mary picks up another rock and furiously heaves it at one of the dragons. Her physical strength isn't the best when it comes to fighting, but it nearly hits Souji and smacks the dragon straight in the center of its head.

There's still a frown on her face. ]

[tuberculosis]

You could, but it probably wouldn't help you very much either, would it?

[despite her anger, the words seem to roll off his back. souji's a pro at instigating, and even more so at doing so at inopportune moments. it likely doesn't help that he doesn't have much care in the way of what others think about him — honestly, if not for the fact that he's headed against two dragons, he may have even made a (poor) joke about killing her instead.]

Is it really "trash talk" if I kill them both? [he's not terribly familiar with the terminology, after all. it's an oddly genuine question (despite the lack of change in his tone, making it difficult to tell just what it is he's thinking), given the circumstances, but souji asks it as casually as if it was over a meal.

despite the fact that he's saying so as he thrusts his sword forward and into an upward motion, taking a pretty harsh swipe to clip the wing of one of the dragons. probably not the time for idle conversation, but souji's isn't really one for doing things the way he's supposed to.]

[duad]

You still don't have to be a jerk about it.

[ Mary yells to him and crouches herself closer to the ground to at least gain a better understanding of how the situation is playing out. The dragons look to be focused more on him, but they haven't forgotten her either — especially because she's been throwing rocks at them — so she tries to keep her own head about her.

It's not like she really wants to ditch him, even if he's capable of handling them both, but she doesn't like his attitude about it. Her plan is defense, rather than offense, so she continues to scope the scene. Her eyes dart around their surroundings, looking for something that would give them more of an advantage. ]

[tuberculosis]

Jerk? My, isn't that a bit harsh? I'm just being honest!

[needlessly honest to the point of tactless for his own amusement... but honest. or something like that. he really does have a tendency to be a jerk, though she may fare better when dealing with him at another time.

when he's wielding a sword, souji's little more than a monster out for blood. in this case, that's probably not much of a bad thing — considering they've got not just one dragon, but two to contend with. his gaze strays from the dragon that still writhes from his last hit for a moment, keeping a careful watch on what mary's doing.

for all his shittalk, he doesn't really intend on letting her get hurt. he's not a totally bad guy, after all.]

Really, if you want to make those kinds of hits, try to find a place where they can't get to you easily. [he won't deter mary from her attempts to help, but he doesn't really want her in the direct line of fire, either. he's not terribly concerned about himself.... even as he gets knocked back by the tail of the other dragon. there's a loud snap as he hits the ground, and souji looks pained for a moment. something definitely broke upon impact from the sheer innate strength of the dragons.

...but mary may notice that after only a minute or two, he's laughing on the ground and giving a deadly look to the perpetrator. he isn't yet getting up (and realistically, how could he, right?), but that doesn't seem to bother him.] Oh? Did you think you'd take me down that easily?

[duad]

[ She narrows her eyes at him again, choosing to ignore his quips. There are no weapons on hand for her and all she has is armor, so she knows she's not a great warrior when it comes to these sort of things, but that doesn't look to deter her at all.

When he falls, the resounding snap is heard over the scuffles of action and the wings of dragons. Her stomach sinks into a horrible realization. Mary remains in a crouch but her hand firmly wraps around another rock just in case. Even if he sounds like he's unaffected, she knows that he isn't. Having him remain there while the dragons are scoping for their prey isn't something she's going to sit behind a rock and observe.

Something in her mind switches to survival as she hears Jenna's voice echo through her ears — "As far as I can tell, you'll just disappear for good" — and she rises to a standing position. Her fists furl. She raises her head to look at the dragons with a frown.

The adrenaline rushes into her and even with the armor holding her down, she runs as fast as she can over to him. As she looks at him, she reaches for the handle of his sword. Her tone is melded with compassion and fervor. ]

I've gotta borrow this!