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my oath shall be sped;
WHO? Everybody!
WHAT? The January TDM.
WHEN? The mythic dimension of Vorspiel.
ANYTHING ELSE? Violence, as always. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence, and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.
WHAT? The January TDM.
WHEN? The mythic dimension of Vorspiel.
ANYTHING ELSE? Violence, as always. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence, and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.
JANUARY TEST DRIVE MEME;
Vorspiel; a land of song.
arrival for new recruits
You wake up in a patch of verdant forest, with the birds chirping all around you. You're not in a clearing; your body lies between the trees. Near you, a frail woman with tired eyes rocks back and forth. You have none of your clothing, just black military-issued underwear, and none of your previous possessions beyond the one you chose (if you remember choosing) to bring with you.
When the tired woman notices you've come to, she speaks in a tongue you won't recognize, but somehow understand, in tilting tones that somehow always rhyme. Tired and sorrowful though she is, if you have questions as to what's going on, she'll answer: you are a member of COST, a paramilitary organization of time travelers fighting against the Regency, a tyrannous kingdom of the future who are trying to stamp out freedom and individuality in the name of peace.
She will provide you with the clothing necessary to fit in, and show you how to use your BCE implant to look up information on this dimension and its social and political mores. She won't let you leave until you're properly dressed to fit in, but once you are, she'll wish you luck. She thinks you'll need it.
And, she says as you depart, if you see the Gods, spit on them. They will do you no favors here.
ARRIVAL FOR VETERANS
While on BASE, you'll receive a message on your BCE.
URGENT MISSION: VORSPIEL UNDER MAJOR ATTACK. ALL POSSIBLE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO PROVIDE AID.Selecting 'Y' will instantly teleport you to Vorspiel. Or maybe you're not the volunteering type, but your BCE glitches and signs you up anyway. Them's the breaks.
ACCEPT: Y / N ?
When you appear in Vorspiel, you'll find yourself in that same forest with the same woman who is ushering new recruits. She will give you clothes and wish you luck-- though luck, she says, is something true heroes have in short supply.
VORSPIEL
Regardless of how you got here, your BCE will have a short rundown of the situation once you arrive.
Vorspiel is a mythical, magical dimension rich in rare and precious resources. During the course of the war, it's been fought over by both sides. The Regency has recently allied with the leader of the misty country of Nibelheim to issue what is known as a Time Break; a sort of spell only possible in ancient dimensions such as these. Essentially, linear time has been destroyed in this dimension. Everything is happening at once, simultaneously and perpetually, a never ending cycle of lives and deaths and battles. While Vorspiel is a vast dimension, its borders have become warped; it is possible to walk from one country to another across the sea in a matter of moments, by accident. While the BCE is trying to send people to Nibelheim, it's entirely possible it misses the mark completely, or sends them to several places before they reach Nibelheim.
This chaos is meant to be a punishment: bow down before the Regency, or nothing will ever be the same again.
There is good news, though. Vorspiel is a dimension of inherent magic; singing or humming or whistling certain magical tunes will have an inherent effect upon one's surroundings. The BCE lists all the spells, though it notes that some have varying results (AKA go wild, guys, have fun), and the ones named after people will do little unless the person in question is present (a statistical unlikelihood).
As you enter different parts of Vorspiel, the BCE will sometimes give you different assignments, prompting you to take this action or that. If you have any questions about how this setting works, feel free to ask!
THE RHEINAs a final note: This will not be the main mission for January. This TDM is meant as a one-off to dump characters into a setting they don't have to read a ton of infopages for, while still getting a sense of what Agoge could be (and as always, this TDM is game canon).
You come upon a giant river with clear and beautiful water. The sun shines down upon it in yellow light, and wherever the light touches it, gold floats to the surface of the water. The BCE will prompt you to fetch as much of this gold as you can-- it is an extremely powerful magical resource, rheingold-- but it will not warn you about the Rheinmaidens.
The rheinmaidens are mermaids, essentially, and at first, they are very friendly and gentle, singing nonsense songs and welcoming you to their home. But as soon as you begin to make any moves toward the gold, they will curse you, dive for you with surprising speed, and attempt to drown you. They will be vicious, and their natural element is water. You're in their territory, taking their things, as far as they are concerned. They have every right to kill you.
Killing the rhienmaidens will work... for a minute or so. And then they will rise again. Wounds will undo themselves-- whether they're inflicted by the rheinmaidens or you. Drowning doesn't seem permanent either-- you're pulled under, and all air escapes you, death befalls you... and then you wake up a moment later, standing on the shore.
Time has been fundamentally broken. Nothing done here is permanent.
WALHALL
You stand outside a fortress bathed in rainbow light atop a glorious mountain. Around you, the air is cool and still, and the roof of the sky seems terribly close. No matter how far toward the fortress you run, you can never make it inside. And thundering footsteps are coming just around the mountain pass, coming for you.
Lumbering giants wander around the fortress, searching for something they mutter and murmur is theirs. If they see anyone around, they will attempt to carry them off, kidnapping them for unknown purposes. They do not seem interested in eating their catch; they seem more interested in kidnapping it. Still, they are dangerous, brutish and sloppy with their strength. It is best to avoid them if possible, hiding in the trees.
Or perhaps you'd rather fight these fifteen-foot monstrosities on your own?
Of course, if you kill them, they just... come back. Death cannot be permanent in a place where time has been caught in an endless loop.
NIBELHEIM
The misty country of Nibelheim is located within a network of caverns dug into the side of a great mountain. It's a foggy, polluted place that brings to mind a city on the brink of the industrial revolution, not unlike Victorian London, though Nibelheim is entirely underground. There is smoke and smog everywhere, and living conditions are generally poor. The rich class is one family, ruled by a Nibelung named Alberich. He has various objects of great power that keep him enslaving his fellow Nibelung, working constantly in factories of his making. He has allied with the Regency to achieve this goal, and the time break within his home dimension is due in large part to his planning and plotting.
Human visitors to Nibelheim aren't unheard of, due to trade, though they are in a minority. Nibelungs, for the record, look and feel and act completely human, but they are ultimately alien, averaging a foot shorter in height at least, having naturally sallow skin, large eyes, hairless regardless of gender, and long, nimble fingers. They are a race of people made to live underground, and it shows; most can see in the dark, and climb nearly any surface. They are famed as smiths and metalworkers. Most just want to make a living and feed their families, though Alberich's clan keeps them in line.
Your duty here, the BCE says, is to try and befriend these people, the average Nibelung, and spark some kind of revolt. There are Regency spies everywhere, however, so be careful; you cannot call for rebellion in an open voice on every street corner. No, it's better, safer, to be subtle about it. Win the trust of a local businessman, seek out influential Nibelungs and figure out their opinions. Be tactical, be clever, be quick.
And avoid Alberich and his family at any cost.
But if you can, try and save some of the Nibelungs. Due to Alberich's machinations, Nibelheim is the only part of Vorspiel that has been untouched by the time break, but that will only stay true for so long. If you can convince any Nibelungs to join COST, they will do so willingly; you'll just have to escort them to safe places in hidden back rooms within dingy bars and forgotten libraries, the places where COST cells have been fermenting under the nose of the Regency. Don't get caught, and be careful; save as many as you can.
AT THE BASE OF A GREAT TREE
A man lays dying. He looks very much like the woman who introduced you to this place. Regardless, he lies in a pool of his own blood, a stab wound through his heart. The time break keeps him from ever truly passing into the next life; as soon as he dies, his eyes open, and he begins the process of his last painful moments once again.
Each time, he begs you to avenge him and find his love (or sometimes his sister; he seems very confused), and if you ask him his name, he will only respond that he is, "the woeful one". And then he will die again, for the hundredth time.
In the trees, warriors watch, poised to attack. They see you communing with their enemy, and they wish to defeat you as well. These warriors care little for your protest; they are locked in an endless battle that they cannot free themselves from, and you have just joined it.
IN THE FOREST
There is a serpent, larger than anything you have ever seen, sitting at the mouth of a cave. It sits upon a hoard of gold that may be familiar to you. It may not, but the BCE will inform you of what it is: rheingold, an incredibly potent and valuable magical resource.
Regardless, the serpent will attack anyone that comes near it or its hoard, even by accident. It, too, is caught in an endless loop of battle long over, for it calls you boy and foolish young man regardless of who or what you are. It speaks in a deep and sonorous voice, and will not stop until its head is cut off. The creature is obnoxiously large and highly dangerous, and battle with it will be long and painful, not least because, like everything in this place where time has been so fundamentally broken, it is very bad at staying dead.
Be careful when you fight it -- if you accidentally get some of its blood in your mouth, you will be suddenly and temporarily able to understand the language of birds. Which is cool, but also, you know, distracting.
The birds will tell you to find the Valkyries, who will bring you great fame and glory. They will also tell you to run, for Fafnir does not die so easy.
AT THE END OF THE WORLD
You are at a funeral. A golden-haired woman stands upon an unlit pyre, standing next to the man who, she sings, is her dead husband. Her song is beautiful and loud and incomprehensible, and when the pyre is lit, the fire swallows her whole. But the burning doesn't stop there; it begins to destroy the assembled mourners, the forest around it, the castle, the very river burns. The fabric of the world crackles and sets to flame.
Run from the flame all you like, but it always licks at your heels.
There is a trick, though, to saving your life. If one is truly unafraid of death, the fire cannot harm you, or anyone you touch. The BCE won't warn you of this; it doesn't know. But if you are unafraid, you can simply walk through the flames unharmed.
It will bring you to a wide field atop a mountain, where a woman lies sleeping. It's the same woman at the funeral, peaceful in sleep, unmoving, unsinged. She can be awoken by a kiss.
Of course, awakening her will begin the cycle again: the pyre, the fire, the fearlessness, the clearing. Over and over again, endlessly, until the BCE manages to pull you out.
This is the will of the Regency.
The main mission for January will be the Gallipoli campaign, as detailed here. Future missions for Agoge are always listed here months in advance.
princess allura | voltron | new recruit
[It's a different awakening than before. Still cold as it had been in cryostasis, but unprotected as though out in the open. She wakes up with her eyes snapping open, feelings of dread, of a battle lost still set in her bones, but she's no longer in the Blue Lion, no longer wearing her armour, and instead there's a natural calmness that feels remarkably out of place when compared to the dangerous vacuum of space and a planet set to blow.
At first she believes herself to be dead, and that the ancient belief of an afterlife a reality. But as there had been before, there is someone here to greet her as she wakes in a panic, to explain everything in an unfamiliar lilt; time has passed, she was recruited to a cause and agreed to it (for peace...why wouldn't she agree to such a cause?), and the fact that she remembers nothing about it is not an uncommon occurrence.
As she leaves the woman and heads onward, Allura takes a moment after changing to try out her BCE, trying hard to ignore the familiar pang of loneliness and confusion.]
@ALTEA | @ALL
This is Princess Allura of the planet Altea. I have been informed of the situation and, while difficult to believe I have somehow forgotten so much, I understand that we are here to fight against a tyranny for the sake of peace.
I am looking to see if my teammates are here. If the Paladins of Voltron mean anything to you, please respond.
[And as she looks to her BCE before sending out the message, under-breath she utters another 'please.'
She cannot imagine being here alone.]
2. AT THE BASE...
[A dying old man with a familiar face. Seeking vengeance and asking for her to find his lost sister...or love? (Hopefully not both) Allura is desperate to help him, ignoring the churn in her stomach at all the blood and resting his head in her lap, attempting to draw a familiar energy into her, feeling that familiar glow of energy, trying to heal him and keep him from dying but it's to no avail.
Her hands are stained red from having tried to pour her healing quintessence into him, the bottom of her skirts dyed red as well. And while ordinarily she is trained and ready to fight at a moment's notice, she's too caught up in the familiar tale of death and vengeance to notice those in hiding, waiting to attack.]
I promise, I will help you. [She speaks quietly to the dead man, setting him back down on the ground. But it's then his eyes open once more, and this being her first encounter with a time loop thus far, she stares down at him in confusion as he begins to repeat himself again. She had been told of this, even has experience with being caught in a timeloop, but...it's just as befuddling now as it had been before.
A warrior some ways away prepares to draw his bow, the familiar pull of a drawstring just barely audible.
Allura, still unaware of the danger behind her, tries to make sense of the situation, standing above the once more dying man, wondering just what the quiznak to do.
So someone should...probably help her before she finds herself embedded with an arrow.]
2
...and the man at the tree, dying time and again, that put him in mind of Promethus. There was no bird eating his liver, but the cause of pain was still there, and the threat of death was there as well. Not from the gods this time, but from other men. (Perhaps not men? They were hidden, and Chiron was willing to entertain the possibility that others might also have such excellent aim.)
Likewise, Chiron was willing to guess that the other figure now at the tree was not aware that she was being watched. Or if she was, she had underestimated her enemy. A healthy mix of curiosity regarding the man at the tree and not wishing for someone else to become injured along with a dying man propeled him forward towards Allura.
His feet were swift, and he made little noise as he darted out from his own cover. There were no words to announce his approach. In theory, the movement would cause arrows to be fired, thus alerting the two at the base of the tree that there was a threat of attack.]
no subject
The arrows, while some firing at the person moving swiftly towards her, do come for her, and as she activates her bayard, the flash of an electric blue whip breaks through the facade of fitting in with this realm. She deflects the arrows that were coming for her, and while one or two do embed in the dying man at the base of the tree, the rest fall broken to the ground.
She doesn't exactly have time to register whether the stranger who blew cover was friend or foe, as other warriors hiding in the wood make their way forward to attack, drawing their weapons.]
no subject
The next step is to define how many archers are hidden just beyond the trees. Chiron isn't an idiot, he knows that this is the dangerous part, but he also doesn't care. He keeps running, his plan to move parallel to the tree, before disappearing into the very same woods.
Based on the trajectories, that should define where the archers are and what their limits are. In theory, it should also indicate to those at the tree that they ought to get moving, while the archers are distracted.]
no subject
Clearly, a battle that cannot be won, and the only thing who seems free of it is the male figure who appeared suddenly out of the wood. He's not stopping to help the fight, only to continue to run, and it takes Allura only another tick or two after tossing a body back into the woods with her whip to realize just what it is he's doing.
The old man dies once more, and it is a split decision where Allura takes the man from the base of the tree, running in the opposite direction from the archers into the wood, further from the warriors and archers stuck in their battle. Still, as she carries him, regardless of the change, he says the same thing over and over again before pausing to die, and then continuing once more.
She only sets him down once she feels far enough from the fight, looking over her shoulder to see if anyone has followed.]
un: @MINIMALCAT (I)
I'd like to add that you should not use your full name and title when on missions. You may or may not be safe doing so on this network but will definitely not be so in front of others. Use your title alone, a nickname or something else until you know for sure someone is a fellow member of COST. Our enemy, the tyranny you speak of, can and will use such information against you in horrifying ways if you prove to be someone they should worry about.
The one I use is Gyoubu, Princess.
no subject
[So She Hopes.
but they do have a point about not using her full name and title...though it is a force of habit.]
Has such a thing happened in the past?
no subject
This land we stand in, and what they have done to it, is testament to their nature; a time loop that prevents death and causes suffering over and over without end afflicts most of it. Our current emergency mission is to assist the viable resistance and hopefully put an end to what they have done. We shall see if it's possible.
un: @ENTERTHEDRAGON
[Sounds fake.]
no subject
...well clearly it does not mean anything to you.
no subject
Huh? No, I mean... It doesn't really ring a bell. I've been here for a while, so like. If you describe what you're lookin' for I might be able to help
1; @themongoose