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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In fact, Merlin gives him an encouraging thumbs up. ]
That's the spirit!
[ Why is he encouraging him-- ]
Though we don't use gold here, it's something called credits. When you leave this place you should have some job offers, so you take those to get credits.
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Well, I can't say that sort of stuff really matters as long as I can make some money.
Hey uh...I just realized I never caught your name. I'm Darin Altway. Nice to meet you!
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And. Merlin. [ They're kind of half naked but w/e... he'll hold out his hand so they can shake hands. ] You too. Though it could have been better circumstances, I'm sure.
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What's the big deal? It's not like we're naked. All the important stuff is covered.
Don't tell me you're shy, Merlin.
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Not exactly, I just preferred the ones that were here before.
[ ???? Those were full of murder and dirt... ]
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Other than that, I hope you're familiar with modern technology...?
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My world has some guns that are powered by magic, but I can only make the actual gun. I can't make it fire on account of not being able to produce a catalyst.
But that stuff is waaaaay too advanced for me. It's not that bad here, is it?
[Oh...Oh no.]
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[ Oh wait... important stuff first. ]
But uh... define "bad" to you?
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And yeah, they use magic. I'm not entirely sure how, but I've studied blueprints. I can make one, but each gun requires a catalyst. Basically, a stone infused with whatever type of magic the wielder specializes in. If you specialize in fire, a mage can create a stone of condensed fire magic, load it up, and fire away.
A smart mage will always carry a full loadout of catalysts before heading out into the world. Saves energy and time. It's also created a market for mages to sell their catalysts to those less magically inclined.
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[ He has a lot of help though, too. ]
Do you know how to make a stone? The theory behind it? I might be able to give it a try if you do.
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[Swing and a miss]
I couldn't tell you how, exactly. I didn't know any mages personally. Every time I saw one made, it looked like the mage was focusing all of their magic into a single point--
...Wait.
...Are you a made?
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I could try it. Probably somewhere that won't make everything explode, anyway. But... you could say that? Probably not like in your world but... [ He just finishes it with a smile.
Honestly, Darin might not realise this, but it's sometimes nice when people don't hear his name and think "but why aren't you an old man" tbh. ]
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What's your specialty? Where I come from, every mage belongs to a specific school of magic and that's what they specialize in. Occasionally you get a prodigy who can split their focus between two schools but those hardly appear anymore.
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But I don't really have a speciality. I know someone who does but... I can just do everything?
[ Except healing really, he's still bad at that. ]
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[He pauses.]
You can...'just do everything?'
...How? That doesn't make any sense. What are you, the king of magic?
[Excuse his skepticism. He's giving you that look that one might give you if you just told them you were Jesus.]
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Though uh... [ Now he just looks sheepish. ] That depends on which stories you read, I think. I've tried to avoid doing that.
[ ???? This probably makes no sense to him I'm so sorry... ]
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But...what do you mean 'stories?'
You're talking like there's some kind of...Legend of Merlin or something.
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Either way, right after he's just going to run a hand in his hair and give him a smile. ]
Something like that, I haven't looked much but apparently it's really influential.
[ Show... off... ]
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So...what, you're a practicing mage in a world that's outlawed magic? Teach magic without a license? All-powerful wizard thought to be the be-all, end-all of the magic world? A rogue wizard being hunted by the military?
Stop me when I guess it.
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Well back home... it's complicated. I was born with it. It's unfair to say I'm practising it when I could move objects by looking at them before I could talk. [ A shrug. ] But it is punishable by death even if that's true.
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You're a mind mage?
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[ He shrugs. ]
I think all the druids can do it.
[ He can't say for sure about anyone who studied to use magic though. ]
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You were born with a natural ability to just use...all magic?
And you're not walking around calling yourself the Grand Master of Magic...why?
I mean, if you've got a talent, at least be confident about it. If I could use magic, I'd probably show everyone.
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[ SHRUGS.
This is being egotistical without seeming too egotistical, tbh. ] I did host a magic show at a festival we had in the colony though.
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