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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.
no subject
Hmm, [ seems like this guy has tried a few already, huh. Ryoji tilts his head slightly and shifts his weight from foot to foot, glancing around them at the forest surrounding the edges of the clearing they are standing on - to grow trees with nothing more than a song, it sounded interesting! ] Did you want me to try it, then?
[ Since Yoshitsugu has tried it already and it didn't ... cause any noticeable effect, Ryoji figures there's no real harm in him trying it. Who knows, like he said, maybe he'd have better luck with it.
He takes a moment to pull up the list and have a listen, before carefully whistling out the tune. ]
no subject
[Rather than showing it from afar? The magic hums and expands in the wind for a few uneventful moments before bringing a bit of Nibelheim to them; the ground swells along the edge of the clearing and juts of solid earth practically explode from the ground, spiralling up and and meeting together in the middle. It's not a perfect cavern that's been created, the sunlight peaks through gaps in the ceiling, but it's... an impressive sight.]
[Yoshitsugu had been knocked off his feet almost the moment the rumblings had begun and known better than to try and get up until they stop. When he does, a slow and unsteady motion that betrays his weariness, he glances at Ryoji, looks over to the still-sleeping woman whose face is now partially shadows, and huffs a laugh.]
Impressive.
[One word for it...]
no subject
[ Ryoji has, also, been knocked off his feet as the earth lurches and splits open beneath them, and he pushes his scarf from where it was tangled around over his head as he rights himself carefully, finding foothold on the now-tangled ground to stare at the cavern. It's different from using the powers that he's been given, the powers driven from who or what he is. Where one feels like his blood catches on fire, burning its way up from his heart outwards, this ... it feels different. Lighter, colder, like the breeze that's now picking up and carrying his voice to where the other stands. ]
What-- What's that meant to do? Is that okay?
no subject
[He tilts his head back, stares up at the cracks of light passing through the earthy ceiling.]
What you've done... is create an 'underground,' no doubt an underground like the one that city is surrounded by. [Yes, that makes sense. Even if the magic is chaotic in some ways there is some internal consistency to what they do.] This confirms what I thought; the spells are themed around the word they are named for, but they don't do the same thing every time.
[They are rooted in music, so perhaps it's not a surprise. A song can sound a little different every time it's played depending on a whole host of factors. The risk that introduces, however, is quite significant... which doesn't really bother Yoshitsugu, per se. Just make his job harder. There's nothing but calm in his voice when he says:]
If we hum it enough times we might get there. But we could also cause ourselves horrifying and dangerous problems too.
no subject
once the rumbling of the ground calms, Ryoji carefully steps up to inspect it more closely, laying his hand against the crumbling, earthy wall of the cavern. despite the way it looks, it feels more solid to the touch than what he'd initially expected. ]
Do you think, maybe, if we do it together... something more will happen?
[ he doesn't think the other has mentioned trying it with someone else, or in a group... ]
Some of these tunes sound like they have different parts to it, too. What could go wrong?
[ horrifying death, probably? ]
no subject
[Probably.]
Many, many things could go wrong.
[He eyes Ryoji with what is, for him, an obvious air of interest. The magic of this world is truly fascinating and even if it doesn't get them to their destination, they will have learned something. A weapon against their enemies here at the very least.]
I am willing to go with the flow and try it.