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.
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Hm? Was that what?
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This day truly is terrible.
Not to mention he's now questioning how trustworthy Otome actually is now. On a scale from 1 to 10, he has -100 on luck with these kinds of things. He'd rather give the benefit of the doubt though. While the methods behind it were questionable, the woman that had appeared didn't exactly resemble the demons known in his world.
He just doesn't know what to call it without automatically getting backlash and potentially causing an argument. ]
That? Before. [ Best to stay vague about it for now, and hope that the answer isn't something that will make him Regret. ]
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[ ... Really, it's a long story. ]
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We should get going.
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... [ What is that weird-sounding whale noise... ]
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Well, the answer becomes clear soon enough as he reaches out, forgetting personal boundaries for the moment as that whale suddenly starts trying to dive at them, mouth opening.
The only reason it misses the first time is because he manages to use the edge of its mouth to kick off and back.
Aren't you glad he fixed himself up earlier though. ] This is-- [ What kind of creature is this?! Maker... ] --ridiculous. We need to find a way out before it turns--
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[ except nope, it's quickly turning and charging right at them. ]
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Instead he takes a moment to lift his hand, press it against her shoulder and give her an encouraging push ]
Start swimming back to the shore--!
[ That definitely sounds like a command... what is he even planning on doing though??? Taking the thing on by himself while unarmed?? Apparently. ]
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[ ... once she's stopped sputtering out salt water, thanks Cullen. ]
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We can discuss that later-- [ When it's useless ?!?! ] --if you can make it back, you can send for help.
[ And even if she has weird demon friends to help, he isn't comfortable with letting her stay to fight this thing.
This is why he needs women like Cassandra and Leliana to smack him upside the head tbh. ]
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[ so nope, she'll help fight. ]
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It's coming back.
[ Only this time it's coming up with its mouth open wide.
Andraste's tits-- ] Take the right.
[ And hopefully they won't be sucked in... Doubtful, though. ]
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[ Well.
AT LEAST THEY'LL HAVE GONE OUT SWINGING. ]
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When it starts sucking in the water they'll both feel the pull into its mouth. He makes one helpless attempt to try and keep her pushed out of it before nope... say hello to your new death cage, Otome. At least that's what it feels like at first until they'll pop out the other side, finally fully dressed, flopping into one of the fountains in the city.
He ends up coughing up a bit of the water, but at least that's better than sand, right? ]
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That's... one way to get out, I guess?
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Where is this?
[ Well, she had mentioned it before but either way... He can't help but wonder as unlike the beach this is nothing like places back in Thedas. While distracted he stands and holds his hand out for her to take, but even his hands are covered now. ]
Are you hurt?
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[ yay! ]
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This is the place it mentioned before in that presentation?
[ tbh the presentation said a lot of things, even hearing it twice hasn't truly helped him understand everything. ]
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Yes, it is. For the time being, it's where you'll be living.
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It's... busier than I was expecting.
[ He's used to sleeping in a tower with a hole in the roof... in comparison. ]