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

[beathollow]

Kanade...

( something sits in her chest and it's unpleasant and heavy. )

... You know that's why I was taken, right? I sang in the wrong place. I... If that happens to you too- if you feel the things I'm feeling now... I don't know what I'd do.

[songsearching]

At the "It'z Quite the Large World" ride, right? When I was looking for you, I checked that ride several times. They were singing your song. I could tell.

[ She couldn't sleep because of it. ]

[beathollow]

( mafuyu nods slowly, looking away. )

I was... scared. And music makes me feel better. But then during the ride, I noticed... it was like the animatronics were asking for help. So I sang for them, instead.

But the moment I stopped, something grabbed the boat and shook it, and the animatronics echoed the song back at me, like they were demanding I keep going.

( and so she did. up until she couldn't make a sound. )

[songsearching]

I'm sorry.

[ Those two words encapsulates all of the feelings she has right now.

An apology that she left Mafuyu alone. An apology for suggesting the idea that maybe music could save people. But she has to do something to save others. She has no other choice. If she can't, then... why is she here? ]

[beathollow]

Why? You didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one who made these choices. ... And now I'm asking you to learn from what I've done.

[songsearching]

...Maybe. But you were alone, right? I feel responsible, a little.

[beathollow]

I was. Because I went off on my own again.

( ... she's not very good at keeping her promises, is she? )

[songsearching]

Mm. But even so...

[ She trails off. ]

No, never mind.

[beathollow]

What is it?

[songsearching]

... I won't make you promise to go somewhere on your own, since--

[ If this place is meant to hurt them, then she expects more of that sort of thing to happen. ]

But. Please... let me know if you are going to.

[beathollow]

... I will. And I'm sorry I keep going off like that.

( it isn't her intent to do so- not like this. and yet... )

[songsearching]

It's...

[ She hesitates, only slightly. There's a whirlwind of emotions that she feels here, and none of the words she wants to say feel right. ]

We'll figure something out.

[beathollow]

( somehow, mafuyu would prefer to be scolded. but that won't fix anything, will it? not parks abducting people. not rides spiriting you away for several days, or terrible mist, or whatever the hell the candles are doing. none of it.

...

mafuyu scoots a little closer to look at what kanade's written so far. )

What are you doing with this?

[songsearching]

I was seeing if I could figure something out with music... there were some rhythmic lights at the lake, so I thought that maybe it might make for a good tempo for a melody.

[beathollow]

Maybe.

( she wonders if playing it will awaken anything else. holds the rabbit a bit closer and closes her eyes for a moment. )

... I'll write for whatever you compose.

( a declaration of loyalty. )

[songsearching]

... thank you, Mafuyu.

[ There's gratitude there; it's clear that she appreciates the help, as something that she can't do herself. ]

[beathollow]

( mafuyu, perhaps for the first time, feels content to leave it at that. to sit beside kanade on the stage with her little demon bunny doll, and watch her work. anything else to say doesn't come to her, but she listens. )