First TDM: Sterile Blues

[upcyclingmod]

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Arrival


Not all characters (known as Wickie, singular or Wickies, plural) arrive at the same time, surprisingly enough! That’s life for you. Some Wickies find their way to the island at a pivotal (or very mundane) point in their life, or even after or during their death.

Wickies who were standing or walking often find themselves entering the town South Sister, located on Lighthouse Isle, through an open doorway. Those that were laying down, or sleeping, tend to be found lying prone in beds, bathtubs, showers, couches, and similar places within the cottages on Cottage Row. There’s no rhyme or reason to it all! To Wickies familiar with the era, they will realize that everything looks as if it’s come from the ‘90s.

The house which a Wickie finds themselves within could already be occupied. This includes walking into a fellow Wicke, waking up in the same location, or accidentally scaring a room full of people with their sudden appearance.

Oops.


Sterile Blues

After arriving, Wickes will find that food and water are easy enough to come by, as they can be readily found in the various houses which populate Lighthouse Isle. Medical supplies, on the other hand, are not so easily acquired. Bandaids and other simple trappings can be pilfered from the odd medical cabinet, but otherwise you’re on your own.

Thankfully, if a Wickie or their friend are in need of medicine or a pair of trauma shears, while you won’t find a full-fledged hospital on the island, there is a clinic. The clinic, named Sister’s Helpers, is like the rest of the buildings in town. Its appearance is well kept, and the doors are unlocked. Whether the Wickie goes in through the windows (because they can), or through the front door like most would, they’ll find that the clinic’s interior is crisp, clean, and orderly. There are plastic chairs, a desk where a receptionist would sit, white walls, but then—

There’s a sound. It could be mistaken for a breeze, at first. But as the sound goes on, it becomes more obvious that the ‘breeze’ is an exhale, prolonged and forced. At the end, there’s a murmur, professional and assuring.

“That’s good. Breathe.”

And with that, the clinic becomes awash in shades of blue. Sister’s Helpers itself hasn’t become warped in any way. There is only monochromatic coloring which, upon further realization, is not truly in the building, but a problem with their vision. Leaving without investigating further will mean having blue vision for the next twenty-four hours.

But for Wickies who choose to stay and explore, there is a chance at clearing their vision. This is is especially difficult for those who have a history of not taking care of their injuries. Gradually, it becomes more difficult to walk, as if there are weights on their feet. For Wickies are especially guilty of not tending to their wounds, their movements will become even more sluggish, and weight will settle on their arms and chest, forcing the worst of offenders into a crawl as they explore from room to room.

Laying on the patient beds will alleviate the situation for a short amount of time. The cure, however, will come from characters taking the supplies which they need for themselves and not for others.

If the Wickie fails this, over the course of an hour they will be crushed to death, and will eventually wake up outside of the clinic. Their vision stuck in shades of red with a weakness in their limbs for the next twenty four hours.

The Wickie’s only cure for that is either taking medical supplies for themselves or by doing some form of self care.


Ashes, Ashes

It’s the middle of the night when all the Wickies are jarred awake from sleep by the blare of a broken siren. Wailing into the dark, the siren functions as a foghorn might, warning of hazardous conditions to come. Beneath Wickies feet, the ground trembles, pulsating once. Twice. Three times. And again, and again until—

The world changes, and it is no longer the foggy island the Wickies knew.

Ash falls steadily from above, blanketing the ground, and at first glance it can be mistaken for snow. Whether by scent, by touch, or even by taste (an option for the brave, the bold, the few), the truth of the ‘snowfall’ can be easily revealed. It is strange, though, that there are no signs of fire in the vicinity. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be much of anything at all. There’s still no sign of the mainland. There are no buildings in this desolate place, either.

Lighting in this new landscape is hazy and sullen, but still conducive to exploring despite it being the dead of night just moments ago. But while Wickies walk, there’s a growing feeling of foreboding. There’s something… something else with them.

And it conceals itself in the ash.

It attacks by lashing out to grab at the ankles and the calves, attempting to drag the unsuspecting victim down, to somewhere far deeper and hidden by billowing piles of ash. It’s easy to save a Wickie from the pull, so long as they’re quickly freed from their assailants grasp. Retrieving someone out of the ash itself is nigh impossible, though.

Grabbed Wickies who lived to tell the tale, may find themselves bitten. The stalkers in the ash sink their teeth into the foot or calf of their prey, leveraging the force of their bite to take down their target. And once there’s blood, more of these creatures will be attracted to the smell.

If a Wickie is clever or strong enough to draw the stalkers out of the ash, they will find that the attackers are shark-like people. Most of their head consists of oversized jaws housing an impossible amount of teeth, and lacking any eyes. Their bodies are covered in ashen chitin and bone, with elongated feet and thin, taloned fingers. These Ash Sharks do not like being exposed, and will respond accordingly.

Ash Sharks cannot be reasoned with. Trapping one in ropes, magic, or other means will elicit angry shrieks which will attract other Ash Sharks, either to eat the trapper, or trapped, or both if they can. Being dragged completely under the ash will start a feeding frenzy, and the Ash Shark will proceed to rip and tear chunks out of its prey.

In dying, Wickies will reset to a random location within the ash filled fields, completely intact but for a purpling bruise where the initial bite took place.

Good luck.


Network Time: The Heart Game

There’s a beeping alert on all Wickie’s smartphones that refuses to stop until a particular notification is read. The notification is for something called the Heart Game (which, yes, looks annoying, overly bright, and cheesy). And surprise! The game opens up automatically with a loud ping!

The game begins (and ends!) with a question, one which will not go away even if you try to close out of it or shut off your smartphone. It reads:

It’s time for everyone's favorite game! Confession! Heeeeere is today’s question which you must confess!

What is… the scariest thing you’ve experienced? It can be anything!

code bases by tricklet

Comments

Questions

[upcyclingmod]

Ask here about the game or the TDM!

[cranelike]

Quick question! Can/will TDM threads be considered canon after being accepted? Or is it up to player discretion?

[upcyclingmod]

We'll leave it up to player discretion!

And if players choose not to make it canon, it's all just a vague memory. What's that? They did something? Eh, well, it must not have been important if they don't remember!

[luckyred]

In the clinic, are there offices for the medical staff or is it just examination rooms? If there are offices, will there be names or personal effects?

Additionally, will this follow in the great tradition of doors being locked or jammed at times (and either being something that can be unlocked or accessed via different means or remaining permanently inaccessible), or will it all be unlocked like the front door?

Secondly, if a character is the clinic, but doesn't have any injuries at the moment, will the effects be the same where if they just take supplies they might need down the line being the cure?

[upcyclingmod]

There are personal offices in the back! There's also a break room for when the staff needed a break. If anyone checks out the fridge in the break room, there's a surprisingly good sheeps cheese and sparkling apple juice in the fridge, both still edible, with a box of really nice crackers on the table. It's as if they just walked away to gather everyone for the feast.

In looking in the back offices, there is about two or three of them, and all of them can be unlocked. Today, there will not be the anything jammed or locked; everything is accessible.

However, in looking over the files and personal effects, characters will not be able to read the names of the staff nor of the patients. The names aren't crossed out, it's just...as if something is making readers forget their names. It's a mental scratch out, and repeated attempts will give them a headache that will only stop once they stop trying to read the names.

The files themselves are pretty normal for a small town, and there are knick nacs that can be found on the desks. Some fun mugs, clips, a stress ball, things like that. Perfectly normal.

And yes, taking what they might need absolutely counts. Being prepared is always a good idea, especially when, well, no one knows what will happen here next.

[grice]

just to dip into (and make public), what would exploring fruit’s basket garner out of the ordinary products? any weaponry or something something blood aisle?

[upcyclingmod]

No conventional weaponry, but there are baseball bats and garden shears! Plus, there are some things you could use for chemical warfare, if you wanted to shop for Molotov cocktails, hairspray fire torches, things like that.

And of course, there's the Blood Aisle, which is where you can find discreetly wrapped products for....more unusual dietary needs, including blood of various types (and heck, some of them may even be in microwave safe bottles, labelled as TruBlood and various off brands). There's also some beautiful packaged necklaces that are filled with a magic power (good for magic users needing a boost!), burger patties that are made with various meats (including human meat), large and small batteries, and some...well, some really weird horrible things that people may need to eat.

There's also a really large candle aisle. They come in various forms of beeswax, soy wax, puffin wax, big and small and in all scents that have and haven't been heard of.

There's one particular type of candle that is supposedly spirit repellent potent- it's white, with little bits of blue in the wax and is surprisingly comforting to hold, even when unlit.

There's instructions to light this only for emergencies, with the example of warding your home, ghost attack, or possession.

[tricksterious]

1) Are there magazines for sale at Fruit's Basket? & do their cards have a limit of any sort?

2) If someone were to try to fuse the ash into something hard (...like, with a super power) would that have any particular effect?

[upcyclingmod]

1. Oh yes, all sorts, from gardening, to fashion, to poetry and manners! There does seem to be a heavy leaning on self help magazines, interestingly enough. There isn't a limit on their cards- so go nuts!

2. It is possible if they use enough ash (and by enough we mean a LOT of ash...possible an Olympic pools size worth) they would be able to make something with a blue tinted diamond's durability and strength.

However, while this will be very confusing and will injure the ash sharks, their confusion will lead to agitation on its discovery, having them shriek for their comrades. They won't like it, and they'll try to attack it with the intention of destroying it.

[tricksterious]

Thanks! That helps a lot. :]

[upcyclingmod]

You're very welcome!

And we will note there are adult magazines in there but...they're packaged and kept on the top shelf.

Just in case you or anyone was wondering!

[globs]

quick question! my character is not human, and generates poison from inside their body that has corrosive properties. would the ash sharks be hurt by this poison like other living things? and the secondary question is: would they still go after cinnabar even though cinnabar has no blood?

[upcyclingmod]

The ash sharks would be affected, yes! And they won't like it one bit.

They'll still try to bite and call their companions to help. Poor Cinnabar is likely to end up in the middle of a cannibalistic ash shark frenzy.

They're determined, not smart.

[globs]

thank you!!

[robopriest]

Are there any other apps/games on the smart phone besides the Heart Game like a version of Candy Crush/Flappy Bird/etc.?

[upcyclingmod]

Oh there absolutely is! There's actually a game app which offers various games, like Candy Crush, FLappy Bird, also Crossword puzzles, mad libs on the go, racing games, all sorts!

All of a different brand of course. There's also options for apps that help you sleep, mindfulness takes, a notepad app...quite a few options really! We're not even certain we can name them all!

[inthemiddle]

Here's a fun batch: How durable are the Ash Sharks? If they can be hurt (let's say, purely hypothetically, by being gouged by a very upset boar) does this cause them to bleed and draw more sharks to the area? How quickly would other sharks arrive? Would they focus more on an injured Ash Shark than a noninjured Wickie?

[upcyclingmod]

They're about as durable as the average human! However, their chitin armor makes it more difficult to get a direct hit when they're moving in the ash. But if we're talking about an upset boar, that boar will win, hands down.

Arrival of the other Ash Sharks depend on two factors: blood or another Ash shark's cry. If they don't cry out, it will take at least five minutes for one to arrive. With blood, it will take about two minutes. With cry, thirty seconds, and cry and blood takes about, twenty seconds.

But yes they will focus on the injured, preferably bloody Ash Shark then someone uninjured.

[inthemiddle]

Thank you so much, mods! I'll work with all that.

[irefire]

Do you guys have a plurk that I can follow?

[upcyclingmod]

Oh, we do! Our apologies; we'll have to put it up in the future.

But you can find us on upcyclemod

[irefire]

Thank you so much!

[sweariff]

Hypothetically, what would happen if characters with access to wind manipulation or similar magic abilities used them to clear the ash off the streets? Would it immediately expose all the ash sharks? I'm guessing they wouldn't be very happy to have their homes blown away.

[upcyclingmod]

Oh, the ash would be blown away for at least a short amount of time! The ash itself would be replaced to near previous levels in about an hour or so; it's still snowing ash after all.

It would certainly expose the ash sharks, and it'll really tick them off- they don't like to be seen by their prey at all. Thankfully, they are pretty slow on solid ground, but they will call to their comrades in angry shrieks.

Congrats! Wind manipulator, you've been upgraded from prey to threat!

[sweariff]

You'll wish the ash sharks didn't remember this.

thank you!!!