OCTOBER EVENT + TDM 02

[ride_technicians]

↞NAVIGATION

event | ƨγɒbiloʜ γqqɒʜ

Curfew lifts on 10/06 as thunder booms overhead, the dark clouds writhing as they roil and twist with unshed waters. Over the past few days, no rain has fallen from the turbid skies, but the threat of downpour remains ever present.

It’s on such a dark and stormy day that the doors to the Gift Shop are propped open by two wooden crates, full to the brim with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. Inside the shop itself, a stack of pumpkin carving kits sits on the checkout counter, alongside a row of colored candles. The masked individual that works as the shopkeeper is as silent as ever, though through the act of gesticulation it manages to convey that the carving kits and the candles are complimentary, and are given for free alongside the purchase of a pumpkin from the bin outside.

You could definitely try to steal one, sure. But the signs above the bin state that each pumpkin is only priced at one Park Token, so it’s not too much of a net loss overall.

Characters will find that after they’ve made their choice of one (1) pumpkin and one (1) of the colored candles, they are not permitted to try and return for another one of either. If more grand theft pumpkin is attempted, no matter how strong the character is they will be unable to lift the second choice up from the bin, almost as if it carries the weight of the whole world within that orange rind. You are only allowed one pumpkin, so be sure that you consider your options carefully.

Of the candles themselves, the following colors are available to choose from: red, blue, white, black, purple, green, and yellow. Each candle will cause a different event to happen, but the side effects of lighting each candle are not advertised anywhere in the shop. Please note which candle your character chooses in the mod comment below, so that you can be informed of what your character has inadvertently unleashed upon the park.

Strangely enough, despite not being provided with a lighter or a match of any kind, the candles flare to life regardless the moment they are placed within one of the carved pumpkins.

You are free to do whatever you deem fit with the pumpkin innards. Go ham.

event | wolɘd

It starts as a glimmer, a flicker of illumination that can be briefly spotted below the surface of the lake. It's quick, something that could easily be excused away as your eyes playing tricks on you, nothing more. That would be the case, at least... If it didn't keep happening. And if the lights didn't get brighter with time.

The flashes are almost rhythmic, a pattern without explanation. Gold and white, brightly shimmering beneath the waters before going dark once more. Over and over again, almost as if controlled by something sentient. Almost as if the lake is beckoning you in to investigate it. Should you give in to the urge, however... Well. Whether you attempt to find the source by either swimming in or renting one of the swan boats, the end result is the same; blackened hands grab at your limbs, clawing at your ankles and dragging you down below the surface. Down... down... down... Until fighting your way back up to the open air would be challenging. Difficult, but not impossible. Then the hands retreat, and you're left alone.

Down here, there are no lights. It's impossibly dark, and something is moving.

tdm intro prompt | !woʜƨ ɘʜT oT ɘmoɔlɘw

You open your eyes to the burn of salt in your lungs, panic clawing up the sides of your throat and settling in your pulse. There is black water all around you, frigid in a way that cuts like a blade and seeps into your very bones. It’s then that you become aware of a minimum of two things:

You’re floating suspended within what could either be a lake or an ocean, roughly twenty or so feet below the surface.

There’s something moving in the blackness beneath you.

You can’t see the bottom, and you can’t see whatever is down there, but you can feel its presence as it disturbs the water below you. Whatever it is, it’s big. And it’s coming closer. You can practically hear it now, a quiet hum that rumbles and resonates at such a frequency that it seems to rattle your teeth in your skull. Silent, yet at the same time somehow impossibly loud. It builds and builds, until you can't seem to focus on anything other than the noise. It crowds your senses, dulling your reactions and dimming the drive to flee.

Suddenly, the hum stops. Several feet away, a massive amber eye blinks closed; you can't remember ever seeing it open in the first place. The water around you shifts, displaced as the thing begins to move away.

Might be a good idea to start swimming for the surface.

Crawling your way to the shore of a lake only to find an amusement park waiting for you isn’t the strangest thing to happen to you after all, is it?

ooc

Feel free to have your character wander about the various park attractions as you see fit! Everywhere listed on the locations page is currently available, with the difference being that the temporal displacement within It'z Quite The Large World has been soothed, causing the ride itself to function in entirely normal ways with no spooky secrets hidden anywhere. TDMers may also participate in the carving of pumpkins.

Comments

[songsearching]

... Twisted Wonderland?

[ It reminds her of storybooks, but in a way that feels dark. ]

Do you do things like this?

[capreelcious]

Yup~! Twisted Wonderland.

[ Nod nod! At the other question, however.. ]

The pumpkin thing? Sometimes we do, yeah! Kinda varies dependin' where you're from. This is my second year carving pumpkins! We don't have 'em in the Coral Sea, so our celebrations are a little different.

[songsearching]

... I see. What kind of things do you do normally to celebrate?

[capreelcious]

Oh, well, maybe "celebrate" ain't the right word for it. We get a lot of ghosts out at sea because of sailors and their intense regrets due to, y'know, the ocean bein' how it is, so it's a bit different. As merfolk, we set out bioluminescent lanterns like guide posts to stop from wandering into the spirit realm. We also play music so the spirits aren't lonely or sad as much.

[ Ocean Halloween is wild. ]

[songsearching]

.... I see.

[ There's a lot to take in here, but Kanade is a person of very few words. Which shows in how she replies in this very moment.

Oh, but he did mention something that she can latch onto - ]

What kind of music did you play for the spirits?

[capreelcious]

Ehh, a buncha different kinds! Mostly calming music so the spirits don't flip out, but we do enjoy partying too!

[ Jump in the Line by Harry Belafonte is a classical merfolk song, in this essay I will- ]

[songsearching]

I see... I'll definitely have to keep that in mind if I run into any spirits here.