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7deadmemes2024-03-04 12:44 pm
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Entry tags:
TDM #001 / EVENT LOG #001
TEST DRIVE MEME #001 / EVENT LOG #001
INFORMATION
Prospective players are free to utilize the setting to create prompts outside of the TDM prompts if they would like to do so. If you have any questions about the TDM please feel free to direct them to the moderator toplevel!
Our reserves are now open.
Prospective players are free to utilize the setting to create prompts outside of the TDM prompts if they would like to do so. If you have any questions about the TDM please feel free to direct them to the moderator toplevel!
Our reserves are now open.
ARRIVAL
The world has changed although you can't remember it changing. Wherever you were and whatever you were doing you are now reliving one of your most important memories. Good or bad, serious or silly, this was something that impacted you deeply. It feels like you're there again living through it. The temperature, the scent, the sounds - they're all exactly as they were back then...but you can hear something else, too. Voices that are muffled and indistinct and far away. Shadows cast on the scene that fall wrong from nowhere. The faintest shimmer of a purple butterfly may play at the corner of your eye.
You aren't alone. Those figures may remain outside of your memory or they may enter the memory, but no matter what the memory itself does not change. The places and people being remembered play out their parts like a movie you've stepped into...and then the memory will repeat when you've reached the end. The wrongness and sense of others watching may increase with each repetition. City of 7 NPCs will call out vices and virtues in turn: this person is guilty of pride - or was it humility? Greed or charity? Lust or chastity? Envy or gratitude? Gluttony, temperance, wrath, patience, sloth, diligence...all the seven deadly vices and seven deadly virtues might be called out in turn. Player characters who enter the memory will be compelled to cast a vote spoken aloud, though they may use whatever metric they like to determine which of the seven deadly vices or seven deadly virtues the person at the center of the memory is most guilty of.
And perhaps that was the deciding vote. As soon as the final vote is cast the characters will witness the memory...bursting! Like a soap bubble. It shimmers and wavers and then blows apart. After this they will find themselves landing in either the city of 7 or in the Amplitheater proper.
If they find themselves in the Amplitheater they may find themselves drowning...or not. This month's scenery is partially underwater and not every role can easily survive there. They will also be able to see large scattered soap bubbles which they can enter that contain other characters trapped in one of their own memories until they receive enough votes to leave. Once all the characters are freed no more of these bubbles can be found.
Upon leaving their bubble characters will discover that on their body is an emblem. This emblem is an oddly shifting mark of colors much like the Amplitheater itself, and the shape of the emblem seems to shift from moment to moment. Sometimes technicolor lights flicker through it. It will only full settle upon acceptance to the game when a character is fully sorted. The emblem should be at least the size of a quarter and in a location that is sometimes visible.
The world has changed although you can't remember it changing. Wherever you were and whatever you were doing you are now reliving one of your most important memories. Good or bad, serious or silly, this was something that impacted you deeply. It feels like you're there again living through it. The temperature, the scent, the sounds - they're all exactly as they were back then...but you can hear something else, too. Voices that are muffled and indistinct and far away. Shadows cast on the scene that fall wrong from nowhere. The faintest shimmer of a purple butterfly may play at the corner of your eye.
You aren't alone. Those figures may remain outside of your memory or they may enter the memory, but no matter what the memory itself does not change. The places and people being remembered play out their parts like a movie you've stepped into...and then the memory will repeat when you've reached the end. The wrongness and sense of others watching may increase with each repetition. City of 7 NPCs will call out vices and virtues in turn: this person is guilty of pride - or was it humility? Greed or charity? Lust or chastity? Envy or gratitude? Gluttony, temperance, wrath, patience, sloth, diligence...all the seven deadly vices and seven deadly virtues might be called out in turn. Player characters who enter the memory will be compelled to cast a vote spoken aloud, though they may use whatever metric they like to determine which of the seven deadly vices or seven deadly virtues the person at the center of the memory is most guilty of.
And perhaps that was the deciding vote. As soon as the final vote is cast the characters will witness the memory...bursting! Like a soap bubble. It shimmers and wavers and then blows apart. After this they will find themselves landing in either the city of 7 or in the Amplitheater proper.
If they find themselves in the Amplitheater they may find themselves drowning...or not. This month's scenery is partially underwater and not every role can easily survive there. They will also be able to see large scattered soap bubbles which they can enter that contain other characters trapped in one of their own memories until they receive enough votes to leave. Once all the characters are freed no more of these bubbles can be found.
Upon leaving their bubble characters will discover that on their body is an emblem. This emblem is an oddly shifting mark of colors much like the Amplitheater itself, and the shape of the emblem seems to shift from moment to moment. Sometimes technicolor lights flicker through it. It will only full settle upon acceptance to the game when a character is fully sorted. The emblem should be at least the size of a quarter and in a location that is sometimes visible.
AMPLITHEATER: THE LITTLE MARINER
Every month the Amplitheater puts on a grand story which the characters can enter and leave at will. This month the stage is The Little Mariner - an island nation surrounded by open and haunted waters. Characters may be warned by NPCs in 7 that items taken into the Amplitheater will take on the relative technology level of the scene, but if they simply arrive inside the Amplitheater after their bubble bursts they will instead find that all their belongings now fit the nautical/piratical theme and a medieval-fantasy technology level. Their belongings will change back to the appropriate appearance and use once they leave the Amplitheater.
The interior of the Amplitheater does not appear to be a sphere. It appears to be an entire world. The exits to the city of 7 all have the shimmer of a soap bubble and can be found in odd places: in puddles, under rocks, in boots...feel free to have your character locate an exit anywhere should they need or want one or have fun with them having more trouble finding an exit. Any exit in the Amplitheater will randomly deposit your character somewhere in the city of 7 regardless of where they entered. You can use this to get your character into city-based prompts they might otherwise not want to join if you like. Or just to dump them on someone else. Go wild. And yes, these exits to look similar to the soap-bubble memories characters find themselves arriving in.
Please note that just as exiting is random so is entering. Your character may show up on a ship, on the island city, or underwater. This is regardless of whether or not their role is suited to that location so feel free to mess around.
Whenever they leave or enter the Amplitheater characters will hear a voice asking them "What are they guilty of?" Before them will flash the faces of one person of each role found in the Dramatis Personae section. They will know that by the 25th they must assign at least one vice or virtue to one of the roles found within this world.
"There once was a beautiful island kingdom known as Aurelia. Though Aurelia was a small kingdom it sat the the middle of many busy trade routes and ships would often come to the port city in order to trade goods or take a rest on their planned routes. Only minor troubles burdened the people of Aurelia.
This peaceful circumstance was mirrored beneath the waves where the kingdom of Atlantis was found. There the merfolk lived peacefully. While these two kingdoms existed quite close to one another both had little to do with the other. The merfolk feared what the people of Aurelia might do to them as there were sailors who sought to capture merfolk as prizes while the people of Aurelia feared the sirens and sea witches their sailors had met on expeditions...when they even believed these stories to be true.
Most merfolk and most people of Aurelia. One particular merfolk became curious about the world above the waters in which she dwelled. She watched them with her friend the porpoise who followed her faithfully and cautioned her against the world she did not understand. Despite these warnings she chose to visit the sea witch to ask for help to see the world she was so curious about.
A deal was struck. The permanent loss of her voice for a single treasure the sea witch had crafted. The merfolk princess was given a scale pendant that allowed her to shift into human form when she left the waters of Atlantis and stepped onto dry land. Happily she went to Aurelia and walked through the markets and saw how they lived...and there she met the mariner.
They struck up an easy friendship as they learned to speak without her voice. The mariner offered to take the merfolk princess sailing and taught her how to work the sails and how to navigate above the waves while the princess taught the mariner how to find and call the sea creatures she had grown up with.
One day the mariner used that knowledge to call up the porpoise who came to him full of trust - and then he fished the porpoise up. Angry and heartbroken the princess dove away from the ship and went to the sea witch begging for some way to bring back her friend. Magic that brings the dead back to life never comes at an easy cost but she was willing to give anything at all.
She would have to apprentice to the sea witch and give up a portion of her own soul. The cost caused her to become cursed, doomed to never be welcomed in the waters of her homeland again even as her once beloved porpoise friend chose to join her in exile. The porpoise swore to find a way to lift her curse at any cost to itself though she did not regret her actions.
The mariner came to regret the loss of his friend almost immediately and set sail in search of her to apologize. Against the advice of older and wiser sailors he took to the seas in the dead of night and his ship was taken by one of the cursed crews. Aboard the ship he found himself starved enough to take a bite of an apple...and then another, and another.
He lost all track of time and for a long time was part of the ship and the crew. In his free time he would sing to the empy waters of his sorrow and how he regretted the hurt he had caused not only to his lost friend but to the porpoise she had so treasured.
One night long after he lost track of all time she came from the water and offered to him a piece of soggy bread taken from the marketplace. Upon eating it he regained himself and leapt from the ghost ship, the princess helping him to swim to shore. There he asked her to come ashore but she told him she would not, and dove back into the waters to join her companion in the sea caves. In time she would become a sea witch and would never be seen again by the mariner."
NPCs from the city of 7 can be found in the Amplitheater filling out various roles the same as PCs can. There also seem to be NPCs that are part of the setting itself that move about in specific patterns through their own little internal stories. It's usually easy to tell the two apart.
MARINER
Sailors and citizens of the island nation in this setting. If you want to be a random sailor? Cool. If you want to enter and be royalty? Also cool. The logic of the Amplitheater can be messed up and adhere more to dreams and emotion at times so it's possible to have five kings to one nation and seventeen captains to one ship. Mariners will be (mostly) human. If your character is not typically human they can potentially be humanized for this role if you like. They also may remain inhuman if you prefer!
POWERS: Inherent knowledge of sailing & navigation, land/air animal companion optional
COMPULSIONS: Sailing, singing sea shanties, finding buried treasure
WEAKNESSES: They can't breathe underwater :(
CURSED MARINER
Cursed mariners are obligated to remain either in the water or on the various ghost ships sailing around the setting until/unless they either exit and come back with a new role or break their curse while in the setting. The curse can manifest in their appearance as a ghost, skeleton, zombie, or sea-urchin encrusted monstrosity. We're not nitpicking this, do whatever you want. Cursed mariners will find that ghosts and other cursed NPCs in the setting are chill with them instead of trying to scare them. After all, they're bros now. Ghost high five!
POWERS: Inflicting the cursed status on other non-cursed people and animals, not needing to breathe, dramatic ghostly musical cues
COMPULSIONS: Inflicting their curse on other people, capturing merfolk, attacking normal ships, burying treasure
WEAKNESSES: Incapable of going on dry land, may be incapable of leaving their ships
MERFOLK
Merfolk can come in the common or royal variety and have no standard look besides "part fish". Which part is fish and which part is human (or whatever) is up to you. If you want your character to be a top-half fish mermaid they totally can be. As long as there is part human (or whatever) and part aquatic animal going on the world is your oyster. Hey, maybe you can be an oyster merfolk! Your character will be transformed for this role but the degree to which that change takes place is up to you.
POWERS: Summon aquatic animal friends, fish-speaking, mysterious musical backups, alluring song, breathing underwater
COMPULSIONS: Singing dramatic musical numbers, acquiring human legs
WEAKNESSES: Can't remain out of water for very long, no sexy human legs (unless they have no sexy human head)
CURSED MERFOLK
There are two types of cursed merfolk: Merfolk who have simply lost anything thanks to the rampant sea witch problem or merfolk who are some variety of ghost, skeleton, or zombie sea creature. The latter is what any character assigned this role on entry will start as, while someone assigned to be a normal merfolk can change into a cursed merfolk throughout the course of their time in the Amplitheater. Sea witches can also become cursed merfolk if you like.
POWERS: Breathing underwater, summon zombie aquatic animal friends, fish-speaking, eerie ghost singing
COMPULSIONS: Spreading their curse to other people/creatures, drowning mariners, singing haunting songs in the dead of night
WEAKNESSES: Can't remain out of water for very long, instinctively disliked by non-cursed sea animals, smells like rotting fish
SEA WITCH
A variety of merfolk that practice sea magic and deal-based magic. As with normal and cursed merfolk a sea witch can be any variety of merfolk you like and we don't care which half is human (or whatever you started out as) and which half is fish. You can be a very standard looking sea witch if you don't want to think about it or you can play around with it if you do. Sea witches are disliked strongly by the setting-native NPCS but the 7 NPCs won't really care much about "good" or "bad" roles since they're more interested in the vices and virtues a soul is guilty of.
POWERS: Extracting any price from an agreed-upon deal no matter how intangible or odd - souls, voices, sandwiches, etc.; fish-speaking, breathing underwater, some magic, evil fish companions
COMPULSIONS: Making deals, cackling maniacally, singing songs about being an evil sea witch
WEAKNESSES: Can't remain out of water for very long, terrible singing voices unless they steal one, must be totally honest about the terms of their deals (can use legalese and loopholes and technical truths however), instinctively disliked by all mariners and many merfolk
PORPOISE
Congratulations, you are now a fish. Or an aquatic mammal. Or...something that lives under the sea. Maybe you're a crab. Or a sea slug. Or a clam. There aren't hard and fast rules here beyond the fact you are now a sea animal living your best sea animal life. Or maybe your worst sea animal life. What does that look like? Whatever you want it to! Maybe your porpoise wants to be a real human girl or boy and makes a deal with a sea witch and changes categories? Or maybe your character goes "fuck this" and finds an exit to try to be something other than a seahorse.
POWERS: Breathing underwater, summon aquatic animal friends, swims real fast
COMPULSIONS: Helping merfolk, offering advice (does not have to be good advice), providing back-up vocals
WEAKNESSES: You're a fish (or something)!
The underwater kingdom of Atlantis surrounds the island nation of Aurelia. There the Merfolk and Porpoises live in often musically-accompanied harmony. Coral reefs can be found all around the island and many of the corals grow into the homes the Merfolk live in. The grand palace is almost entirely constructed of corals although there are some shells and stone as well. Atlantis is a true underwater city so you can find any variety of shops, eateries, and entertainment...though all of this takes place underwater so obviously everything sold, eaten, or done must be water-appropriate. And also most of it is catered to fish and other aquatic life. So there's that! Cursed Merfolk and Sea Witches are not welcome in Atlantis.
Currently there's a grand musical celebration being planned, but the royal princess is nowhere to be found! If you happen to be a Merfolk who is royal they don't mean you. They mean...your sister? Your brother? Your second cousin twice removed? The Amplitheater's dream-logic will fill in something at random. Or maybe you ARE the missing royal merfolk and you have run away for dramatic teenage reasons or just left the area for normal reasons. Whatever the case, all of Atlantis is trying to find you and you may need a quick getaway. If you're captured they will force you to sing a solo for them in their musical celebration regardless of whether or not you can actually sing. If they can't find a royal Merfolk for this they may settle for a Porpoise. Not only are you a fish, now you have to preform! Fun.
There are various shipwrecks to be found from the many nautical battles above the waves. Some of these ships are now home to Merfolk or Porpoises but many are there to be looted by whomever wants to loot things. The VRealists are diving down and mapping the shipwrecks by persistently exiting and entering the Amplitheater until they get roles that make this possible, so you'll see many Merfolk, Cursed Merfolk, Sea Witches, and Porpoises wandering around these wrecks. They won't usually initiate combat but may ask you to search with them for various lost treasures. These range from mystical artifacts such as a gemstone that when broken will release a storm to a fork that when dipped into water can purify it. A small volume of water, anyway. Feel free to make treasures up! These won't be removable from the Amplitheater.
Also around these shipwrecks are meetings of Porpoises. Since the Porpoise role includes any aquatic animal this means...lots of sea creatures! There's various interest groups here (shiny hooks and why you should or shouldn't avoid them; what is this piece of human debris I found and if I had hair could I comb it with it; are fish friends or food?) which you might be drawn into if you try to swim by. These are the real topics that matter to real animals.
In the sea caves under the city of Aurelia are the Sea Witches. There's more than one of them. The Sea Witches are magical deal-makers who can offer you anything you can think of. Or, well, not game-breaking go home things, but anything within reason that suits the technology level within the Amplitheater. So an undersea giant transforming mecha isn't a possibility but if you want a transforming suit of armor made entirely of shells that shoots out blowfish darts that can totally happen for you. The catch is the price of the deals. Sea witches can ask for anything in exchange for these wishes, be it voices or souls or a really good sandwich. It's up to the witch in question. If you approach the sea caves you may be asked: "What do you wish for?" You may feel compelled to answer the question though you will have to decide whether or not to make a deal on your own. As a note, Sea Witches can cause curses as a result of their deals if the prices aren't paid or if the terms have it that way - and they can also offer to curse curses for a price.
The island nation of Aurelia has a ghost problem. Every evening the ships of the dead take to the seas...or the skies in the cases of a few flying ghost ships. While some of these ships are translucent and can only be interacted with by cursed creatures and ghosts many can be boarded by the living and uncursed. The boarding does not have to be willing: characters can find themselves on a ship either from exiting their initial memory or from entering the Amplitheater from the outside. Or they can be kidnapped by ghost pirates which is again a very big and common problem in Aurelia. Mariners are particularly susceptible to kidnappings, while Merfolk and Porpoises may find themselves fished up to be kept captive or threatened with becoming sushi.
These ghosts ships will frequently attack the ships of the living once they descend. The nightscape of Aurelia frequently has nautical battles and canonfire as a part of it, although some areas are less fraught with the obvious dangers of ghost pirate to sailor combat and instead full of less obvious dangers...
If you're a Cursed Mariner and a part of the crew you will find yourself preforming tasks around the ship. These tasks range from legitimate ship tasks such as hoisting and trimming sails seemingly at random to the less legitimate burying treasure on the seabed or even on dry land wearing very fashionable buckets of sea water as shoes. Characters who are not Cursed Mariners may find themselves drawn into the crew if they happen to eat anything from the ghostly feast on any of the ships. If they eat something from one of the feasts and stay on the ship through the night they will become a Cursed Mariner. Taking the character from the ship and feeding them uncursed food will cure them - or any other cure for a curse that characters can come up with.
What feasts, you ask? Elaborate ones with any food characters could imagine...including all their favorites, however esoteric those might be. Ghosts walk through the walls of the ship. There are floating candelabras and sometimes the food set out for the feast will disappear from the plate. Occasionally out of the corner of their eyes the food found at the feast might look different - rotted and in dark shifting colors but that only happens sometimes...and it tastes absolutely perfect regardless. The ghost chef will serve up more and more food no matter how much a character eats. "Don't you want some more? You can't leave the table until you've finished all of it." No matter how much they eat characters will still feel hungry. Worse, the more they eat the more they themselves will begin to change into something more Cursed.
Many times a deep fog will roll out over the sea. Sometimes those who enter the fog will find that they lose something to it. Often this is their voice but it can also be a memory or some sort of item they had or even one of their powers of skills. These things will turn into golden balls of light which dance over and under the ocean leading other people on like will-o-the-wisps. Catching one of these balls of light will immediately give your character the thing that was lost - even if it wasn't theirs! You might find yourself speaking with another person's voice or viewing someone else's memory or suddenly having a new ability until you give it back to them. This can be accomplished by picturing it leaving you and flowing from your hand to theirs. Or by just handing an item over if what was lost was an item.
The island nation of Aurelia is one city on a sunny island with various fields and beaches and mountains and coves thrown into the mix. The city is very large and busy with a huge port for ships and a lively market. The castle where all the royal people live (or Mariners who happen to be royal) is on a nice cliff overlooking both the sea and the city. There are many shops in the market and plenty of eateries and food stalls, and there's a large stage near the biggest plaza where there are frequent plays and performances put on. Anyone who stages their own performance - of whatever they like! - will earn golden coins that when taken out of the Amplitheater will disappear and register as credits to their account.
Currently the city is preparing for a royal wedding. Mariners (royal or otherwise) can be as involved as they might like in this and can be cast as anyone in the wedding party or any of the celebrants. This wedding takes place every single day come rain or shine at the sunniest part of the afternoon. It often takes place on a boat but sometimes takes place on the beach or in the palace itself. None of the Amplitheater-native NPCs seem to realize they're playing out the same storyline with variations. City of 7 NPCs will mention this is normal if asked and seem to enjoy trying out different roles and doing different things from day to day. Occasionally this includes things like Blood-Drinker Cursed Merfolk attacking the wedding ship one day to spread their curse or another day Combatants commandeering the wedding ship for a battle. Yes, Wrath devotees are often a problem, why do you ask?
There's also beach fun to be had! You can go swimming or sunbathing if you like, or be dragged along for fishing and sailing by any of the various ships around the port. Or maybe you will find some buried treasure? There's a Cursed Mariner sloshing around in bucket boots who seems to be burying the treasure, and if you catch him at it he will offer to not curse you for the price of: "Y'wanna help me bury it? Otherwise..." If you say no he will curse you. He isn't even sorry about it. But if you help him he's happy enough to go on his merry way after making you promise not to unbury the treasure. You are of course free to unbury it after anyway if you like to find magical artifacts along the lines of a scrying glass that can show scenes around the Amplitheater, a wand that can call up a sea storm, or slippers that let you walk on water. None of these items can be removed from the Amplitheater.
Sailing is a major area of interest in Aurelia for obvious reasons. The seas during the days are sunny and bright while at night they tend to be choppy and foggy. During the days you might hear Merfolk singing. The songs during the day are alluring but in a more positive way - you just want to stop and listen. During the night you might be listening to Cursed Merfolk who call sailors to them in order to run them aground or into rocks so they can attempt to drag the sailors to the depths of the sea.
Every month the Amplitheater puts on a grand story which the characters can enter and leave at will. This month the stage is The Little Mariner - an island nation surrounded by open and haunted waters. Characters may be warned by NPCs in 7 that items taken into the Amplitheater will take on the relative technology level of the scene, but if they simply arrive inside the Amplitheater after their bubble bursts they will instead find that all their belongings now fit the nautical/piratical theme and a medieval-fantasy technology level. Their belongings will change back to the appropriate appearance and use once they leave the Amplitheater.
The interior of the Amplitheater does not appear to be a sphere. It appears to be an entire world. The exits to the city of 7 all have the shimmer of a soap bubble and can be found in odd places: in puddles, under rocks, in boots...feel free to have your character locate an exit anywhere should they need or want one or have fun with them having more trouble finding an exit. Any exit in the Amplitheater will randomly deposit your character somewhere in the city of 7 regardless of where they entered. You can use this to get your character into city-based prompts they might otherwise not want to join if you like. Or just to dump them on someone else. Go wild. And yes, these exits to look similar to the soap-bubble memories characters find themselves arriving in.
Please note that just as exiting is random so is entering. Your character may show up on a ship, on the island city, or underwater. This is regardless of whether or not their role is suited to that location so feel free to mess around.
Whenever they leave or enter the Amplitheater characters will hear a voice asking them "What are they guilty of?" Before them will flash the faces of one person of each role found in the Dramatis Personae section. They will know that by the 25th they must assign at least one vice or virtue to one of the roles found within this world.
TALE: THE LITTLE MARINER
"There once was a beautiful island kingdom known as Aurelia. Though Aurelia was a small kingdom it sat the the middle of many busy trade routes and ships would often come to the port city in order to trade goods or take a rest on their planned routes. Only minor troubles burdened the people of Aurelia.
This peaceful circumstance was mirrored beneath the waves where the kingdom of Atlantis was found. There the merfolk lived peacefully. While these two kingdoms existed quite close to one another both had little to do with the other. The merfolk feared what the people of Aurelia might do to them as there were sailors who sought to capture merfolk as prizes while the people of Aurelia feared the sirens and sea witches their sailors had met on expeditions...when they even believed these stories to be true.
Most merfolk and most people of Aurelia. One particular merfolk became curious about the world above the waters in which she dwelled. She watched them with her friend the porpoise who followed her faithfully and cautioned her against the world she did not understand. Despite these warnings she chose to visit the sea witch to ask for help to see the world she was so curious about.
A deal was struck. The permanent loss of her voice for a single treasure the sea witch had crafted. The merfolk princess was given a scale pendant that allowed her to shift into human form when she left the waters of Atlantis and stepped onto dry land. Happily she went to Aurelia and walked through the markets and saw how they lived...and there she met the mariner.
They struck up an easy friendship as they learned to speak without her voice. The mariner offered to take the merfolk princess sailing and taught her how to work the sails and how to navigate above the waves while the princess taught the mariner how to find and call the sea creatures she had grown up with.
One day the mariner used that knowledge to call up the porpoise who came to him full of trust - and then he fished the porpoise up. Angry and heartbroken the princess dove away from the ship and went to the sea witch begging for some way to bring back her friend. Magic that brings the dead back to life never comes at an easy cost but she was willing to give anything at all.
She would have to apprentice to the sea witch and give up a portion of her own soul. The cost caused her to become cursed, doomed to never be welcomed in the waters of her homeland again even as her once beloved porpoise friend chose to join her in exile. The porpoise swore to find a way to lift her curse at any cost to itself though she did not regret her actions.
The mariner came to regret the loss of his friend almost immediately and set sail in search of her to apologize. Against the advice of older and wiser sailors he took to the seas in the dead of night and his ship was taken by one of the cursed crews. Aboard the ship he found himself starved enough to take a bite of an apple...and then another, and another.
He lost all track of time and for a long time was part of the ship and the crew. In his free time he would sing to the empy waters of his sorrow and how he regretted the hurt he had caused not only to his lost friend but to the porpoise she had so treasured.
One night long after he lost track of all time she came from the water and offered to him a piece of soggy bread taken from the marketplace. Upon eating it he regained himself and leapt from the ghost ship, the princess helping him to swim to shore. There he asked her to come ashore but she told him she would not, and dove back into the waters to join her companion in the sea caves. In time she would become a sea witch and would never be seen again by the mariner."
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
NPCs from the city of 7 can be found in the Amplitheater filling out various roles the same as PCs can. There also seem to be NPCs that are part of the setting itself that move about in specific patterns through their own little internal stories. It's usually easy to tell the two apart.
MARINER
Sailors and citizens of the island nation in this setting. If you want to be a random sailor? Cool. If you want to enter and be royalty? Also cool. The logic of the Amplitheater can be messed up and adhere more to dreams and emotion at times so it's possible to have five kings to one nation and seventeen captains to one ship. Mariners will be (mostly) human. If your character is not typically human they can potentially be humanized for this role if you like. They also may remain inhuman if you prefer!
POWERS: Inherent knowledge of sailing & navigation, land/air animal companion optional
COMPULSIONS: Sailing, singing sea shanties, finding buried treasure
WEAKNESSES: They can't breathe underwater :(
CURSED MARINER
Cursed mariners are obligated to remain either in the water or on the various ghost ships sailing around the setting until/unless they either exit and come back with a new role or break their curse while in the setting. The curse can manifest in their appearance as a ghost, skeleton, zombie, or sea-urchin encrusted monstrosity. We're not nitpicking this, do whatever you want. Cursed mariners will find that ghosts and other cursed NPCs in the setting are chill with them instead of trying to scare them. After all, they're bros now. Ghost high five!
POWERS: Inflicting the cursed status on other non-cursed people and animals, not needing to breathe, dramatic ghostly musical cues
COMPULSIONS: Inflicting their curse on other people, capturing merfolk, attacking normal ships, burying treasure
WEAKNESSES: Incapable of going on dry land, may be incapable of leaving their ships
MERFOLK
Merfolk can come in the common or royal variety and have no standard look besides "part fish". Which part is fish and which part is human (or whatever) is up to you. If you want your character to be a top-half fish mermaid they totally can be. As long as there is part human (or whatever) and part aquatic animal going on the world is your oyster. Hey, maybe you can be an oyster merfolk! Your character will be transformed for this role but the degree to which that change takes place is up to you.
POWERS: Summon aquatic animal friends, fish-speaking, mysterious musical backups, alluring song, breathing underwater
COMPULSIONS: Singing dramatic musical numbers, acquiring human legs
WEAKNESSES: Can't remain out of water for very long, no sexy human legs (unless they have no sexy human head)
CURSED MERFOLK
There are two types of cursed merfolk: Merfolk who have simply lost anything thanks to the rampant sea witch problem or merfolk who are some variety of ghost, skeleton, or zombie sea creature. The latter is what any character assigned this role on entry will start as, while someone assigned to be a normal merfolk can change into a cursed merfolk throughout the course of their time in the Amplitheater. Sea witches can also become cursed merfolk if you like.
POWERS: Breathing underwater, summon zombie aquatic animal friends, fish-speaking, eerie ghost singing
COMPULSIONS: Spreading their curse to other people/creatures, drowning mariners, singing haunting songs in the dead of night
WEAKNESSES: Can't remain out of water for very long, instinctively disliked by non-cursed sea animals, smells like rotting fish
SEA WITCH
A variety of merfolk that practice sea magic and deal-based magic. As with normal and cursed merfolk a sea witch can be any variety of merfolk you like and we don't care which half is human (or whatever you started out as) and which half is fish. You can be a very standard looking sea witch if you don't want to think about it or you can play around with it if you do. Sea witches are disliked strongly by the setting-native NPCS but the 7 NPCs won't really care much about "good" or "bad" roles since they're more interested in the vices and virtues a soul is guilty of.
POWERS: Extracting any price from an agreed-upon deal no matter how intangible or odd - souls, voices, sandwiches, etc.; fish-speaking, breathing underwater, some magic, evil fish companions
COMPULSIONS: Making deals, cackling maniacally, singing songs about being an evil sea witch
WEAKNESSES: Can't remain out of water for very long, terrible singing voices unless they steal one, must be totally honest about the terms of their deals (can use legalese and loopholes and technical truths however), instinctively disliked by all mariners and many merfolk
PORPOISE
Congratulations, you are now a fish. Or an aquatic mammal. Or...something that lives under the sea. Maybe you're a crab. Or a sea slug. Or a clam. There aren't hard and fast rules here beyond the fact you are now a sea animal living your best sea animal life. Or maybe your worst sea animal life. What does that look like? Whatever you want it to! Maybe your porpoise wants to be a real human girl or boy and makes a deal with a sea witch and changes categories? Or maybe your character goes "fuck this" and finds an exit to try to be something other than a seahorse.
POWERS: Breathing underwater, summon aquatic animal friends, swims real fast
COMPULSIONS: Helping merfolk, offering advice (does not have to be good advice), providing back-up vocals
WEAKNESSES: You're a fish (or something)!
UNDERWATER
The underwater kingdom of Atlantis surrounds the island nation of Aurelia. There the Merfolk and Porpoises live in often musically-accompanied harmony. Coral reefs can be found all around the island and many of the corals grow into the homes the Merfolk live in. The grand palace is almost entirely constructed of corals although there are some shells and stone as well. Atlantis is a true underwater city so you can find any variety of shops, eateries, and entertainment...though all of this takes place underwater so obviously everything sold, eaten, or done must be water-appropriate. And also most of it is catered to fish and other aquatic life. So there's that! Cursed Merfolk and Sea Witches are not welcome in Atlantis.
Currently there's a grand musical celebration being planned, but the royal princess is nowhere to be found! If you happen to be a Merfolk who is royal they don't mean you. They mean...your sister? Your brother? Your second cousin twice removed? The Amplitheater's dream-logic will fill in something at random. Or maybe you ARE the missing royal merfolk and you have run away for dramatic teenage reasons or just left the area for normal reasons. Whatever the case, all of Atlantis is trying to find you and you may need a quick getaway. If you're captured they will force you to sing a solo for them in their musical celebration regardless of whether or not you can actually sing. If they can't find a royal Merfolk for this they may settle for a Porpoise. Not only are you a fish, now you have to preform! Fun.
There are various shipwrecks to be found from the many nautical battles above the waves. Some of these ships are now home to Merfolk or Porpoises but many are there to be looted by whomever wants to loot things. The VRealists are diving down and mapping the shipwrecks by persistently exiting and entering the Amplitheater until they get roles that make this possible, so you'll see many Merfolk, Cursed Merfolk, Sea Witches, and Porpoises wandering around these wrecks. They won't usually initiate combat but may ask you to search with them for various lost treasures. These range from mystical artifacts such as a gemstone that when broken will release a storm to a fork that when dipped into water can purify it. A small volume of water, anyway. Feel free to make treasures up! These won't be removable from the Amplitheater.
Also around these shipwrecks are meetings of Porpoises. Since the Porpoise role includes any aquatic animal this means...lots of sea creatures! There's various interest groups here (shiny hooks and why you should or shouldn't avoid them; what is this piece of human debris I found and if I had hair could I comb it with it; are fish friends or food?) which you might be drawn into if you try to swim by. These are the real topics that matter to real animals.
In the sea caves under the city of Aurelia are the Sea Witches. There's more than one of them. The Sea Witches are magical deal-makers who can offer you anything you can think of. Or, well, not game-breaking go home things, but anything within reason that suits the technology level within the Amplitheater. So an undersea giant transforming mecha isn't a possibility but if you want a transforming suit of armor made entirely of shells that shoots out blowfish darts that can totally happen for you. The catch is the price of the deals. Sea witches can ask for anything in exchange for these wishes, be it voices or souls or a really good sandwich. It's up to the witch in question. If you approach the sea caves you may be asked: "What do you wish for?" You may feel compelled to answer the question though you will have to decide whether or not to make a deal on your own. As a note, Sea Witches can cause curses as a result of their deals if the prices aren't paid or if the terms have it that way - and they can also offer to curse curses for a price.
GHOST SHIPS
The island nation of Aurelia has a ghost problem. Every evening the ships of the dead take to the seas...or the skies in the cases of a few flying ghost ships. While some of these ships are translucent and can only be interacted with by cursed creatures and ghosts many can be boarded by the living and uncursed. The boarding does not have to be willing: characters can find themselves on a ship either from exiting their initial memory or from entering the Amplitheater from the outside. Or they can be kidnapped by ghost pirates which is again a very big and common problem in Aurelia. Mariners are particularly susceptible to kidnappings, while Merfolk and Porpoises may find themselves fished up to be kept captive or threatened with becoming sushi.
These ghosts ships will frequently attack the ships of the living once they descend. The nightscape of Aurelia frequently has nautical battles and canonfire as a part of it, although some areas are less fraught with the obvious dangers of ghost pirate to sailor combat and instead full of less obvious dangers...
If you're a Cursed Mariner and a part of the crew you will find yourself preforming tasks around the ship. These tasks range from legitimate ship tasks such as hoisting and trimming sails seemingly at random to the less legitimate burying treasure on the seabed or even on dry land wearing very fashionable buckets of sea water as shoes. Characters who are not Cursed Mariners may find themselves drawn into the crew if they happen to eat anything from the ghostly feast on any of the ships. If they eat something from one of the feasts and stay on the ship through the night they will become a Cursed Mariner. Taking the character from the ship and feeding them uncursed food will cure them - or any other cure for a curse that characters can come up with.
What feasts, you ask? Elaborate ones with any food characters could imagine...including all their favorites, however esoteric those might be. Ghosts walk through the walls of the ship. There are floating candelabras and sometimes the food set out for the feast will disappear from the plate. Occasionally out of the corner of their eyes the food found at the feast might look different - rotted and in dark shifting colors but that only happens sometimes...and it tastes absolutely perfect regardless. The ghost chef will serve up more and more food no matter how much a character eats. "Don't you want some more? You can't leave the table until you've finished all of it." No matter how much they eat characters will still feel hungry. Worse, the more they eat the more they themselves will begin to change into something more Cursed.
Many times a deep fog will roll out over the sea. Sometimes those who enter the fog will find that they lose something to it. Often this is their voice but it can also be a memory or some sort of item they had or even one of their powers of skills. These things will turn into golden balls of light which dance over and under the ocean leading other people on like will-o-the-wisps. Catching one of these balls of light will immediately give your character the thing that was lost - even if it wasn't theirs! You might find yourself speaking with another person's voice or viewing someone else's memory or suddenly having a new ability until you give it back to them. This can be accomplished by picturing it leaving you and flowing from your hand to theirs. Or by just handing an item over if what was lost was an item.
ISLAND CITY
The island nation of Aurelia is one city on a sunny island with various fields and beaches and mountains and coves thrown into the mix. The city is very large and busy with a huge port for ships and a lively market. The castle where all the royal people live (or Mariners who happen to be royal) is on a nice cliff overlooking both the sea and the city. There are many shops in the market and plenty of eateries and food stalls, and there's a large stage near the biggest plaza where there are frequent plays and performances put on. Anyone who stages their own performance - of whatever they like! - will earn golden coins that when taken out of the Amplitheater will disappear and register as credits to their account.
Currently the city is preparing for a royal wedding. Mariners (royal or otherwise) can be as involved as they might like in this and can be cast as anyone in the wedding party or any of the celebrants. This wedding takes place every single day come rain or shine at the sunniest part of the afternoon. It often takes place on a boat but sometimes takes place on the beach or in the palace itself. None of the Amplitheater-native NPCs seem to realize they're playing out the same storyline with variations. City of 7 NPCs will mention this is normal if asked and seem to enjoy trying out different roles and doing different things from day to day. Occasionally this includes things like Blood-Drinker Cursed Merfolk attacking the wedding ship one day to spread their curse or another day Combatants commandeering the wedding ship for a battle. Yes, Wrath devotees are often a problem, why do you ask?
There's also beach fun to be had! You can go swimming or sunbathing if you like, or be dragged along for fishing and sailing by any of the various ships around the port. Or maybe you will find some buried treasure? There's a Cursed Mariner sloshing around in bucket boots who seems to be burying the treasure, and if you catch him at it he will offer to not curse you for the price of: "Y'wanna help me bury it? Otherwise..." If you say no he will curse you. He isn't even sorry about it. But if you help him he's happy enough to go on his merry way after making you promise not to unbury the treasure. You are of course free to unbury it after anyway if you like to find magical artifacts along the lines of a scrying glass that can show scenes around the Amplitheater, a wand that can call up a sea storm, or slippers that let you walk on water. None of these items can be removed from the Amplitheater.
Sailing is a major area of interest in Aurelia for obvious reasons. The seas during the days are sunny and bright while at night they tend to be choppy and foggy. During the days you might hear Merfolk singing. The songs during the day are alluring but in a more positive way - you just want to stop and listen. During the night you might be listening to Cursed Merfolk who call sailors to them in order to run them aground or into rocks so they can attempt to drag the sailors to the depths of the sea.
CITY OF 7
Welcome to the city of 7, a floating technological metropolis that seems to be suspended in the midst of an infinite void of space. The city is divided into seven more or less even wedges centered around a huge iridescent multi-colored sphere at the center known as the Amplitheater. You can read in-depth about the city on our setting page.
Early on in the month the city is bustling and citizens are leaving and entering the Amplitheater very frequently, trying to generate more power for their city. Many are willing to direct new characters to Charimedic clinics where members of the Charimedic order are willing to explain how things work in the city of 7. The Amplitheater generates the power their entire city runs on. It's called a soul-weighing ceremony, although many people refer to it as simply the ceremony.
Characters are encouraged to participate in the ceremony but aren't obligated to do so. There's plenty to do and see within the city itself, and each district is celebrating the current ceremony in their own unique ways.
The eternal summer and aquatic theme of District 1 fits in quite well with this month's ceremony. Stepping through the elastic surface of the Amplitheater one can almost get confused about if they actually went anywhere - until the more technological details of District 1 come into focus. The denizens of the 1st district are enthused about this and have begun setting up water slides which lead into the Amplitheater to allow people a more "fun" entrance. They might not explain this properly the first time you queue up for one of the slides, however, leading to a surprise destination at the end of the ride.
Floating throughout the air are holographic and mechanical jellyfish. The holographic versions will occasionally float through people or objects while the mechanical versions seem to be used as extremely slow and often confused messengers. Some of these jellymechs will wander up to your character. Sometimes right up to your character. Like...floating into your character and continuing to try to move like they will somehow learn to phase through solid objects. They do this to walls as well.
Occasionally you will find them stuck in random locations like this and they will only after a long struggle ask for help. A small, shy robotic voice may sound out: "Um...sorry...dunno how to get out of this...can you help me out...?" They might also ask for directions to some location in 7. If you choose to help one of the myriad lost or stuck jellyfish they will reward your character with credits and a pretty seashell bracelet. The jellymechs made them themselves.
Various people dressed in fashions modeled off of jellyfish can be found following the jellymechs around. The jellymechs mostly ignore this but you might find one hiding behind you timidly. "They're...being weird again...dunno what to do..." Again, helping the jellymech out will net you thanks, credits, and this time a crayon drawing of your character that is printed out and handed over. So...crayon-ink? This may or may not have been worth it.
You can read more about District 1 over here.
Now that a new ceremony is underway District 2 is moving to capitalize on it. The entire place is full of holographic advertisements, statues, and movies all projected into the air and on various platforms or even coming out of digital billboards. Many of these holo-ads are themed on The Little Mariner. Do you want your Little Mariner commemorative shirt? What about a jacket? A hat? A mug? Hey, they have this EXCLUSIVE recording of one of the top Envidols talking about the newest ceremony location...a low, special price JUST for you...but only if you buy now! While not everything is themed, those who follow Greed know how to cash in on a new business opportunity. They do this every month.
Even the vending & gacha machines have been taken over by the craze. Quickly manufactured figurines of characters found within the current ceremony can be found inside the gacha machines. These figurines can include your character in any role - even multiple ones! The rarity of all these figurines value, so your character might be only a 1 star pull...but they might also be a 5 star pull. Something to be happy or sad about, maybe? Or to not care about at all. The vending machines, meanwhile, will sell various aquatic supplies which can be taken into the Amplitheater. Though...they might change inside of it to match the technology level. Buyer beware!
You might be pulled aside by one of the Gambliars, many of whom run and work at any of the various mega-casinos or malls, and asked: "Hey...I hear there's pirate treasure inside this time. Think you can bring me some out? I'll make it worth your while..." The Gambliar will then supply characters with a treasure map that they can take inside of the Amplitheater. If characters are willing to bring out pirate treasure (after, you know, finding and/or stealing it) they will get an absolutely terrible exchange rate of credits to treasure that favors the Gambliar. But at least it's something?
You can read more about District 2 over here.
In District 3 there are many nautically themed lanterns and kites to be found in the sky almost constantly depending on whether it is night or day. These sometimes float entirely free on the breeze that blows constantly through the district but many times can be found being released or flown by the residents of District 3. Denizens of the 3rd district can be found making and painting these kites or selling them. The price is fairly cheap and reasonable and mostly citizens seem to be making a lot for fun and then just asking a few credits for all the extras they end up with.
There are flowering trees found all throughout the district. Cherry blossom, Magnolia, Crabapple, and strange alien options that characters may or may not recognize from home or from other worlds. The scent of it is heavy but pleasant - unless you're not into florals. It's pretty common at this time of year to find various people picnicking under the trees. Various hobby groups will put on demonstrations of skills or will have storytelling time in order to entertain anyone who happens to pass by.
Music can constantly be heard. Most of it is pleasant and joyful, but you may hear a particular compelling song that has you following it...only to end up in the middle of a hobby meeting. Are you being forced to quilt? Do you find yourself painting miniature figures? Or maybe you're suddenly being cast in a play? The Hobbyists are all about the mermaid and pirate themed plays right now and are even writing a few of their own...with varying results as to quality. One of the very impassioned amateur directors will insist you get their story just right even if the story is, in fact, terrible.
There are various small open-topped airships that fly through the district. Several offer rides to the Amplitheater if you don't wish to walk, passing through the bubble with no trouble and transforming instantly into a scene-appropriate ship as the sailor NPCs take anyone who wishes to go to Aurelia city into port. Being attacked by pirates may happen, so take care.
You can read more about District 3 over here.
The denizens of the 4th district are organizing themselves around the entertainment offered by the newest ceremony much like the other districts. In the multiple shopping centers around District 4 are many goods that could be considered useful in the current ceremony alongside the usual fare. The top piratical fashion, guaranteed not to change inside the Amplitheater!
While they keep up their usual reality shows and Envidol streams, many Envidols are streaming about the Little Mariner. Holo-memory recordings of their time in the Amplitheater can be found alongside reaction videos. Your character might feature in any of these, including videos the Envidols make mocking players within the game...so if you had an embarrassing moment and an Envidol happened to be nearby you now get to share it with the entire city of 7. Isn't that lucky?
Meanwhile there are various new VR releases built around the Amplitheater's current ceremony that come out through the month. Many of the VRealists are releasing strategy guides for the current ceremony, although most citizens of 7 will tell you that living out whatever experience you have in the Amplitheater in whatever way you want is the best way to go about things. If you want a guide to how to find the most treasure!!!! or TOP RANKED roles for this month to see how you stacked up against everyone else according to a group of VR nerds, though, you can definitely find those things.
The Thankfools are currently active as well, passing out informational pamphlets on their order. Do you want to loiter near doors waiting for people to open them for you? Do you want to thank everyone you meet for existing or other amazing traits? Do you want to always smile and never frown? Join today!
You can read more about District 4 over here.
What matters most about any new Amplitheater setting is obviously the food. What kind of cuisine do they have? Whatever it is, District 5 is replicating it and expanding on it. This month that means there is seafood everywhere. There are fish themed and shaped snacks being sold out of many of the hover-trucks and while you can find many other types of foods almost every place is running a special on "Mariner-themed" meals.
There's supposed to be boats running off one of the tributaries of the river and straight into the Amplitheater but...there aren't. That just isn't happening. Instead there is a huge water traffic jam on the river and you're better off just walking into the Amplitheater from District 5. It's almost possible to walk along from ship to ship on the river right now without missing a step they're that packed. No one seems that worried about it, though...except some very annoyed Rational robots who nevertheless respect the current order of dis-order and don't try to hurry people along. But you can tell they're thinking it.
There seems to be an ongoing war with the vending machines of District 5. If you go to buy anything you're going to have to fight off a group of people with silly food themed hats (mostly cheeseburger) or much more sensibly dressed robots (and some people). Both groups will buy everything out of whatever vending machine they've descended on. This happens in every district although it's most frequent in District 5. Luckily the Rationals will sell you back items, although with a reasonable limit. They will not sell to Vendingmacs and will get upset if you give the Vendingmacs anything you buy from them.
You can read more about District 5 over here.
All the nautical battles going on in the Amplitheater are more than fine with the residents of District 6. In fact, they seem to be mobilizing to enter the Amplitheater in groups. Characters are welcomed - and in some cases forcibly press-ganged - to join any of these groups to march into the Amplitheater and acquire ships in order to have elaborate and deliberate nautical battles. They're not exactly playing it safe and easy so be careful of injury...or death, but that's best avoided.
There are also sword-fighting matches and a few people offering lessons if you want to be an authentic warrior inside the Amplitheater for the time period. Because that's important to some people, apparently. The weapons shops are all selling period-appropriate weaponry in addition to the usual stuff - though the merchants will clarify anything technologically advanced will simply morph inside the Amplitheater. Still, some people really want the authenticity!
Inside the Amplitheater you can hire a group of Combatants as guards...or you can come across a group and fight them in skill matches. They're going to be sailing around challenging anyone and everyone to a fight. On the other side of things the Blood-Drinkers will be entering and exiting the Amplitheater until they get their preferred roles of Cursed Mariner or Cursed Merfolk. They will then proceed to fight anyone and everyone and bite them to drink their blood and spread the curse so...watch out for that!
The Brewers are in the meantime offering nautically-themed teas which they are brewing from scratch on inspiration. The worst one tastes rather like rotting fish. The Blood-Drinkers love it.
You can read more about District 6 over here.
Currently in District 7 the the days are twice as long as the nights. This does put the District somewhat out of sync with the rhythms of the rest of 7, but devotees of Diligence barely pay that any heed. You, however, may notice that you can step from night into daylight when coming from another district, or may experience the opposite when going.
Perhaps suiting the strange hours and cycle of long days and short nights, shadows inside District 7 behave strangely. Occasionally they will slip free of their owners and move independently, a pantomime of work played out on the streets and walls of District 7. These shadows can affect the actions of their owner at times, forcing the owner to work in District 7, or may be (semi?) permanently lost if citizens aren't careful. Shadowmen consume lost shadows although they also will steal the shadows of loiterers within the district. If you aren't behaving in a diligent manner your shadow is at risk. A new shadow can be gained through an extreme act of Sloth or Diligence.
Hovering and walking and rolling throughout the district are the Schedulebots (their members with working biological limbs walk). They can be found in nearly every district offering to help anyone who needs assistance or providing free labor. Many can be found going into the Amplitheater and working in the city marketplace. Though they appear human at first glance, sometimes seeing them sideways you'll catch a hint of the metal they're actually made of.
The electric lazy river that serves as the major street(s) of District 7 is anything but lazy. There are various control craft that direct traffic and ensure everyone is moving according to schedule and plan. Deliveries are made efficiently and transportation is easily among the fastest across the entire city. There are regular scheduled transports offered going into the Amplitheater with stops at Aurelia city as well as Atlantis and a few of the ghost ships.
In a quiet moment when the shadows seem to be behaving normally and none of the Schedulebots are around you may be drawn to the side by one of the Nap Peddlers. These are mostly cat people and actual cats with tech-based collars that allow them to speak, although there are a few less feline members in the group. "Psssst. Hey, you. Yeah, you. Come over here, you have to see what I got..." What the Peddler has is...pillows! And fuzzy blankets. "Goose down pillows, and look at these blankets...the blend is top notch! And hey, all you gotta do to get 'em is use 'em! I know a place right down the street..." If you choose to follow the Peddler you can be led to an underground nap café which fronts as either a cat café or some other kind of shop. Inside are cozy napping areas for groups or singles and lots of places to lounge around and do absolutely nothing. Come inside!
You can read more about District 7 over here.
Welcome to the city of 7, a floating technological metropolis that seems to be suspended in the midst of an infinite void of space. The city is divided into seven more or less even wedges centered around a huge iridescent multi-colored sphere at the center known as the Amplitheater. You can read in-depth about the city on our setting page.
Early on in the month the city is bustling and citizens are leaving and entering the Amplitheater very frequently, trying to generate more power for their city. Many are willing to direct new characters to Charimedic clinics where members of the Charimedic order are willing to explain how things work in the city of 7. The Amplitheater generates the power their entire city runs on. It's called a soul-weighing ceremony, although many people refer to it as simply the ceremony.
Characters are encouraged to participate in the ceremony but aren't obligated to do so. There's plenty to do and see within the city itself, and each district is celebrating the current ceremony in their own unique ways.
DISTRICT 1: HUMILITY
The eternal summer and aquatic theme of District 1 fits in quite well with this month's ceremony. Stepping through the elastic surface of the Amplitheater one can almost get confused about if they actually went anywhere - until the more technological details of District 1 come into focus. The denizens of the 1st district are enthused about this and have begun setting up water slides which lead into the Amplitheater to allow people a more "fun" entrance. They might not explain this properly the first time you queue up for one of the slides, however, leading to a surprise destination at the end of the ride.
Floating throughout the air are holographic and mechanical jellyfish. The holographic versions will occasionally float through people or objects while the mechanical versions seem to be used as extremely slow and often confused messengers. Some of these jellymechs will wander up to your character. Sometimes right up to your character. Like...floating into your character and continuing to try to move like they will somehow learn to phase through solid objects. They do this to walls as well.
Occasionally you will find them stuck in random locations like this and they will only after a long struggle ask for help. A small, shy robotic voice may sound out: "Um...sorry...dunno how to get out of this...can you help me out...?" They might also ask for directions to some location in 7. If you choose to help one of the myriad lost or stuck jellyfish they will reward your character with credits and a pretty seashell bracelet. The jellymechs made them themselves.
Various people dressed in fashions modeled off of jellyfish can be found following the jellymechs around. The jellymechs mostly ignore this but you might find one hiding behind you timidly. "They're...being weird again...dunno what to do..." Again, helping the jellymech out will net you thanks, credits, and this time a crayon drawing of your character that is printed out and handed over. So...crayon-ink? This may or may not have been worth it.
You can read more about District 1 over here.
DISTRICT 2: GREED
Now that a new ceremony is underway District 2 is moving to capitalize on it. The entire place is full of holographic advertisements, statues, and movies all projected into the air and on various platforms or even coming out of digital billboards. Many of these holo-ads are themed on The Little Mariner. Do you want your Little Mariner commemorative shirt? What about a jacket? A hat? A mug? Hey, they have this EXCLUSIVE recording of one of the top Envidols talking about the newest ceremony location...a low, special price JUST for you...but only if you buy now! While not everything is themed, those who follow Greed know how to cash in on a new business opportunity. They do this every month.
Even the vending & gacha machines have been taken over by the craze. Quickly manufactured figurines of characters found within the current ceremony can be found inside the gacha machines. These figurines can include your character in any role - even multiple ones! The rarity of all these figurines value, so your character might be only a 1 star pull...but they might also be a 5 star pull. Something to be happy or sad about, maybe? Or to not care about at all. The vending machines, meanwhile, will sell various aquatic supplies which can be taken into the Amplitheater. Though...they might change inside of it to match the technology level. Buyer beware!
You might be pulled aside by one of the Gambliars, many of whom run and work at any of the various mega-casinos or malls, and asked: "Hey...I hear there's pirate treasure inside this time. Think you can bring me some out? I'll make it worth your while..." The Gambliar will then supply characters with a treasure map that they can take inside of the Amplitheater. If characters are willing to bring out pirate treasure (after, you know, finding and/or stealing it) they will get an absolutely terrible exchange rate of credits to treasure that favors the Gambliar. But at least it's something?
You can read more about District 2 over here.
DISTRICT 3: CHASTITY
In District 3 there are many nautically themed lanterns and kites to be found in the sky almost constantly depending on whether it is night or day. These sometimes float entirely free on the breeze that blows constantly through the district but many times can be found being released or flown by the residents of District 3. Denizens of the 3rd district can be found making and painting these kites or selling them. The price is fairly cheap and reasonable and mostly citizens seem to be making a lot for fun and then just asking a few credits for all the extras they end up with.
There are flowering trees found all throughout the district. Cherry blossom, Magnolia, Crabapple, and strange alien options that characters may or may not recognize from home or from other worlds. The scent of it is heavy but pleasant - unless you're not into florals. It's pretty common at this time of year to find various people picnicking under the trees. Various hobby groups will put on demonstrations of skills or will have storytelling time in order to entertain anyone who happens to pass by.
Music can constantly be heard. Most of it is pleasant and joyful, but you may hear a particular compelling song that has you following it...only to end up in the middle of a hobby meeting. Are you being forced to quilt? Do you find yourself painting miniature figures? Or maybe you're suddenly being cast in a play? The Hobbyists are all about the mermaid and pirate themed plays right now and are even writing a few of their own...with varying results as to quality. One of the very impassioned amateur directors will insist you get their story just right even if the story is, in fact, terrible.
There are various small open-topped airships that fly through the district. Several offer rides to the Amplitheater if you don't wish to walk, passing through the bubble with no trouble and transforming instantly into a scene-appropriate ship as the sailor NPCs take anyone who wishes to go to Aurelia city into port. Being attacked by pirates may happen, so take care.
You can read more about District 3 over here.
DISTRICT 4: ENVY
The denizens of the 4th district are organizing themselves around the entertainment offered by the newest ceremony much like the other districts. In the multiple shopping centers around District 4 are many goods that could be considered useful in the current ceremony alongside the usual fare. The top piratical fashion, guaranteed not to change inside the Amplitheater!
While they keep up their usual reality shows and Envidol streams, many Envidols are streaming about the Little Mariner. Holo-memory recordings of their time in the Amplitheater can be found alongside reaction videos. Your character might feature in any of these, including videos the Envidols make mocking players within the game...so if you had an embarrassing moment and an Envidol happened to be nearby you now get to share it with the entire city of 7. Isn't that lucky?
Meanwhile there are various new VR releases built around the Amplitheater's current ceremony that come out through the month. Many of the VRealists are releasing strategy guides for the current ceremony, although most citizens of 7 will tell you that living out whatever experience you have in the Amplitheater in whatever way you want is the best way to go about things. If you want a guide to how to find the most treasure!!!! or TOP RANKED roles for this month to see how you stacked up against everyone else according to a group of VR nerds, though, you can definitely find those things.
The Thankfools are currently active as well, passing out informational pamphlets on their order. Do you want to loiter near doors waiting for people to open them for you? Do you want to thank everyone you meet for existing or other amazing traits? Do you want to always smile and never frown? Join today!
You can read more about District 4 over here.
DISTRICT 5: GLUTTONY
What matters most about any new Amplitheater setting is obviously the food. What kind of cuisine do they have? Whatever it is, District 5 is replicating it and expanding on it. This month that means there is seafood everywhere. There are fish themed and shaped snacks being sold out of many of the hover-trucks and while you can find many other types of foods almost every place is running a special on "Mariner-themed" meals.
There's supposed to be boats running off one of the tributaries of the river and straight into the Amplitheater but...there aren't. That just isn't happening. Instead there is a huge water traffic jam on the river and you're better off just walking into the Amplitheater from District 5. It's almost possible to walk along from ship to ship on the river right now without missing a step they're that packed. No one seems that worried about it, though...except some very annoyed Rational robots who nevertheless respect the current order of dis-order and don't try to hurry people along. But you can tell they're thinking it.
There seems to be an ongoing war with the vending machines of District 5. If you go to buy anything you're going to have to fight off a group of people with silly food themed hats (mostly cheeseburger) or much more sensibly dressed robots (and some people). Both groups will buy everything out of whatever vending machine they've descended on. This happens in every district although it's most frequent in District 5. Luckily the Rationals will sell you back items, although with a reasonable limit. They will not sell to Vendingmacs and will get upset if you give the Vendingmacs anything you buy from them.
You can read more about District 5 over here.
DISTRICT 6: WRATH
All the nautical battles going on in the Amplitheater are more than fine with the residents of District 6. In fact, they seem to be mobilizing to enter the Amplitheater in groups. Characters are welcomed - and in some cases forcibly press-ganged - to join any of these groups to march into the Amplitheater and acquire ships in order to have elaborate and deliberate nautical battles. They're not exactly playing it safe and easy so be careful of injury...or death, but that's best avoided.
There are also sword-fighting matches and a few people offering lessons if you want to be an authentic warrior inside the Amplitheater for the time period. Because that's important to some people, apparently. The weapons shops are all selling period-appropriate weaponry in addition to the usual stuff - though the merchants will clarify anything technologically advanced will simply morph inside the Amplitheater. Still, some people really want the authenticity!
Inside the Amplitheater you can hire a group of Combatants as guards...or you can come across a group and fight them in skill matches. They're going to be sailing around challenging anyone and everyone to a fight. On the other side of things the Blood-Drinkers will be entering and exiting the Amplitheater until they get their preferred roles of Cursed Mariner or Cursed Merfolk. They will then proceed to fight anyone and everyone and bite them to drink their blood and spread the curse so...watch out for that!
The Brewers are in the meantime offering nautically-themed teas which they are brewing from scratch on inspiration. The worst one tastes rather like rotting fish. The Blood-Drinkers love it.
You can read more about District 6 over here.
DISTRICT 7: DILIGENCE
Currently in District 7 the the days are twice as long as the nights. This does put the District somewhat out of sync with the rhythms of the rest of 7, but devotees of Diligence barely pay that any heed. You, however, may notice that you can step from night into daylight when coming from another district, or may experience the opposite when going.
Perhaps suiting the strange hours and cycle of long days and short nights, shadows inside District 7 behave strangely. Occasionally they will slip free of their owners and move independently, a pantomime of work played out on the streets and walls of District 7. These shadows can affect the actions of their owner at times, forcing the owner to work in District 7, or may be (semi?) permanently lost if citizens aren't careful. Shadowmen consume lost shadows although they also will steal the shadows of loiterers within the district. If you aren't behaving in a diligent manner your shadow is at risk. A new shadow can be gained through an extreme act of Sloth or Diligence.
Hovering and walking and rolling throughout the district are the Schedulebots (their members with working biological limbs walk). They can be found in nearly every district offering to help anyone who needs assistance or providing free labor. Many can be found going into the Amplitheater and working in the city marketplace. Though they appear human at first glance, sometimes seeing them sideways you'll catch a hint of the metal they're actually made of.
The electric lazy river that serves as the major street(s) of District 7 is anything but lazy. There are various control craft that direct traffic and ensure everyone is moving according to schedule and plan. Deliveries are made efficiently and transportation is easily among the fastest across the entire city. There are regular scheduled transports offered going into the Amplitheater with stops at Aurelia city as well as Atlantis and a few of the ghost ships.
In a quiet moment when the shadows seem to be behaving normally and none of the Schedulebots are around you may be drawn to the side by one of the Nap Peddlers. These are mostly cat people and actual cats with tech-based collars that allow them to speak, although there are a few less feline members in the group. "Psssst. Hey, you. Yeah, you. Come over here, you have to see what I got..." What the Peddler has is...pillows! And fuzzy blankets. "Goose down pillows, and look at these blankets...the blend is top notch! And hey, all you gotta do to get 'em is use 'em! I know a place right down the street..." If you choose to follow the Peddler you can be led to an underground nap café which fronts as either a cat café or some other kind of shop. Inside are cozy napping areas for groups or singles and lots of places to lounge around and do absolutely nothing. Come inside!
You can read more about District 7 over here.
Bakugō Katsuki 💥 Boku no Hero Academia
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Species: Human
Sex: Male
Origin: Japan
Permissions: Here
[OOC: General and specific starters are below. If you want to hit me up for ideas on prompts or plots, feel free to send me a PM, or drop an OOC comment below, and we’ll hash it out! I'm down to write a unique starter for thread(s) if you prefer! And if nothing below suits your fancy, just tag in somewhere as "WILDCARD" and we'll go from there!]
💥 001. ▶ ARRIVAL. *click for dropdown*
001. ▶ ARRIVAL. - Memory Lane.
💥 ❶ ARRIVAL. - Memory Lane
[Smoke and rubble. That's all there is for a moment, the ominous breath of air drifting in from the demolished wall churning the dark clouds and revealing slow by slow the sheer wreckage around them. Two boys standing in the middle of this ruined room, one glad in a green costume composed of a mother's homemade additions and a support team's work on the jumpsuit she bought for her son, the other clad in a black and orange costume drawn up by his own design and put together by an expert group of designers and hero support group.
The boy in green is falling, costume torn apart and burned from the strains of a vicious battle, smoke drifting from his hair and the sizzle of burned flesh coming from his half-broken arm. Busted from the impact of the boy in black and orange's grenade-shaped gauntlet and powerful explosions. He falls amid the crackle and crunch of ceiling pieced dropping from above, where a massive hole has rent through the ceiling and floors of upper levels. As if an explosion was just forced upward through the building proper. There are other noises, the faint 'crack tack crack' of concrete against a multitude of stones, the yell of a masculine voice echoed through a facemask, one little squishy "plop" of a body clasping onto something big and round above
That boy beaten up, bloodied, weakened, defeated boy hits the ground with a "thud" audible over a new voice coming through the speakers:
"The hero... The hero team... WIIIIIINNNS!!!"
And the other boy, clean, undamaged, strong, victorious... stares into space, eyes bulging and mouth hanging open in a wretched expression of disbelief as All Might, his hero, the man he idolizes the most, yells in triumph over the speaker, announcing to everyone the hero team's win. They win. The boy on the floor... the boy defeated... WINS. Midoriya Izuku, forced to wear the name "Deku" for his perceived uselessness... wins.
And Bakugou Katsuki loses. Amid the smoke and destruction of his own power, standing above a boy he brutalized, in the face of his own assured victory, He. Loses. AGAINST DEKU!! Heart rate rising. Chest pumping with his quickening breath. Blood vessels crawling into the whites of his eyes. Nothing but the broken "ahh" ... "ahh" managing from his slacked jaw. For the first time in his life, with no excuse, with no defense, with nothing but the stark truth, he realizes that he was read like a book, out predicted, out maneuvered, out witted, out determined, and completely lost to Deku--!!
*snap!*
It all starts over again. The smoke, the rubble, the two boys standing off against each other.
Bakugo stands silently by, watching the memory play out. That was him almost a year ago. After he walked into U.A., after he began his first year as a hero in training. The biggest fish in a small town who absolutely despised a boy he knew would amount to nothing, while he dreamed of becoming the world's greatest hero. Seeing the memory from so long ago brings a tumultuous rush of emotions, though they stay off his scowling, impassive face. He's learned so much since then, matured through experiences both amazing and agonizing. Yet this one, his first complete loss against someone he was so convinced as nothing, remains a core moment in his life.
He doesn't look as good as that year-younger boy right now. Sure his costume is similar, but he's missing the gauntlets, his mask is gone, there's blood all over his chest and in the high collar of his jacket, his body aches, the side of his face scorched, one arm completely fucked up in some strange mechanical splint. A little taller, a lot stronger, war-ragged. But it's his memory. A memory slowly being decorated by additional voices. Words. "Pride" says one, another voices "wrath" in turn, "greed" say another, while "envy" whispers in the background... Fucking voices that have no business being here.
Bakugo lifts his hand, braced on the arm that's not splinted, aims for the sky, and- "KABOOM!" -detonates a massive explosion into the air, blasting anything and anyone away from him in a huge concussive force of heat, light, and sound.]
Shut up. I learned that a long time ago. If you think this'll affect me, you can shove it up your ass.
[And turns to face the presence he feels nearby. If they're responsible for this, someone's gonna die...]
001. ▶ ARRIVAL. - Amplitheater.
💥 ❷ ARRIVAL. - Amplitheater
[It's only taken a few of those damn whispers to realize there are people around him with the audacity to fucking judge him based on the single memory repeating over and over in front of him. These bastards! They don't know a single thing about what went into that memory or was going on in his life during-!!
*Pop!* In a split second, all of that burst, rent away like a bubble on the tip of a needle. No time for protest, no time for a shout of surprise, only a sudden deluge of cold water sweeping over him. Caught in the rush momentarily, he strikes out with his arms and legs, fighting to regain balance and control of himself. Not only are they content to sit back and deliver judgement on his memory, but they think drowning him afterwards is the best idea?! Bakugo forces his innate panic to calm, limbs stopping, floating with his mouth tight shut. He focuses on two things: light and buoyancy. Which way is the brighter light? Which was is his body naturally drifting towards?
... and why the fuck can he no longer feel his legs? Water rushes past his head as he jerks his chin down, kicking what are supposed to be his legs forward. Only to stare at the flash of orange and green fins and tail. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?! It's one thing to dig into his head and put his memories on screen to view; it's another to transform his body into a goddamn merman! The worst part is, he can already tell this isn't a dream. It's too real, too long, too present.
Which also means... he can probably breathe underwater now, a fact that Bakugo has to fight his natural instincts to prove correct. Luckily for him, the assumption is sound and he takes a few seconds to adjust his breathing and motions. It's not hard to adapt the technique of dolphin swim kicks to the normal motion of swimming with a tail. Which leaves him more or less calmer (still angry) and viewing the watery world around him.
With a lot more of those damn bubbles floating around. Are there people in each of those? How many ended up here? The questions don't have time for answer when another bubble bursts and the occupant inside is dumped right out in to the same state he was in. Tch- He's gonna murder whoever's behind this.]
Hey! [Whoa, his voice carries in the water. Bakugo pitches forward, swimming towards the newcomer.] Stop thrashing! Hold your breath and I'll get you to the surface.
[You know, provided they also don't turn into a finned fiend...]
memory lane
Izuku would have preferred to recognize Katsuki by his voice. Or by the scene itself. But all that had happened was that he'd come to touch the bubble and then he'd gotten sucked inside it or whatever and THEN he'd gotten an explosion to the face for his troubles. Since this is after he got freed from his own memory loop he looks a bit different currently but that's still the familiar spluttering protest and Izuku's blown back and then gets back up to his feet. His...many feet. His eight limbs. ]
I didn't even do anything that time - ! [ Despite looking different, he's still beat up himself. There's blood and now ash (thank you, except fuck you too Kacchan!!! except not because Izuku is too nice to say that outside of battle) and he's scrubbing at his face while pulling a face, but he does look somewhat better than he did the last time he was seen since none of his Quirks are activated at the moment. Izuku is still figuring out what's happening, but he feels the compulsion in his gut to judge Kacchan and...
Well, ignores it. For the moment. He probably can't do that for a long time if they want to get out of this memory but the responsibility of judging Kacchan who takes that badly always is absolutely something that's going to be a headache. ]
You're the definition of friendly fire sometimes, Kacchan. [ No emphasis on the friendly. ]
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What he doesn't expect... is to hear that familiar sputtering and coughing before a nostalgic bush of green hair emerges from the smoke cloud. And apparently a distinct lack of clothes. HE DIDN'T BLAST THAT HARD!! But then a slap of tentacle. And another one. And Izuku's now visible, but it's definitely NOT Izuku, while still obviously being Izuku, and what the fuck is going on here?! That's some kind of aquatic monster Quirk thing?! Katsuki stares at the other hero for a second, his better arm still curled at the hand in a ready position to attack again. If this guy makes a wrong move...]
What's going on with your body, Deku?! [Immediately his suspicion and anger flicker through with concern when he takes in the damage on Izuku's body. He knows for a fact it's not damage taken from the explosion just now (since it was aimed upward rather than directly behind him) but that doesn't explain anything else, asides from questions about what happened to the war they were just in. Where are they? Is this Shigaraki's doing? Who the hell has a mental manipulation Quirk around the battlefield? No one was even close enough to do something like that! ... Unless it's All for One. Or Shigaraki just busted another Quirk conveniently out of his ass.
Katsuki snorts at the comment, head turning to the side in annoyance (and perhaps some acceptance). Excuse you, he's never accidentally hit an ally with his fire. Those were on purpose and for a reason!]
As if I'd do something like that.
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Also, excuse you, he has...SOME clothes. He has a cool belt and shoulder guard and bracers. And earrings in his ear fins. That...counts? Sort of? No, he wants his costume back though. Although it was kind of ripped the hell up so...that damage is all from the battle he'd been in before he found himself trapped in a memory of All Might, because Izuku hasn't actually had time to look into fixing it. He's been busy being extremely confused and getting thrown into things he did not intend to be in. ]
What is - ? Wait, first year? Our first hero class...? [ That doesn't answer Katsuki's question at all, mostly because Izuku is placing the memory. How are these even chosen? Why is Kacchan trapped in this memory? ...hm. Memory Izuku is blown up too, isn't he. Some things really never do change. ] See, there's MORE proof. Well, okay, I guess that doesn't count as friendly fire since you were supposed to be fighting me, but you did kinda go way overboard, Kacchan...
[ Izuku says, like he didn't break his body deliberately at the same time and also go overboard. ]
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[He just attacked someone who might've been sneaking up on him! Which yeah, could be considered friendly fire in the eyes of the almost-blasted, but not in the eyes of the one who had zero idea! Katsuki narrows his eyes at Izuku's hands, noting the talons and the markings on his skin. He's not at all convinced this is the real Izuku, but rather a conjuration designed to get him to lower his guard or make a mistake. Which would also eschew him from that friendly fire blame since he attacked a FAKE! See? Record is still perfect.
Yeah well a distinct lack doesn't mean stark naked. But even if the lower half is a bunch of tentacles, if a hero walked out in naught but belt, shoulder guard, and bracers, most people would still shield their eyes and yell about putting some clothes on, you naked pervert. Or the like. Katsuki shakes himself out of the thoughts, focusing back on Izuku rather than the memory playing out behind him in a loop. Ignoring the words as well, because those are getting really annoying really quickly...]
No. That was at the end of middle school. [His voice is steady and irritated, like he's annoying he has to correct Izuku about this memory again. He isn't convinced this is really Izuku, even if the mental scene should be familiar to both of them. So he's going to try and goad this person into a trap, see if the fake Izuku can be tricked into outing himself as a fake. What better way than to mess with the details and check. He narrows his eyes at the "proof" comment, and Izuku noting they were supposed to be fighting. Tch, okay that's a correct detail...] No one said shit about going overboard.
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You're all hurt...did you hit your head? Kacchan, this was definitely not middle school. I mean - well, it's very obviously not middle school? Besides the part where I have a Quirk, All Might is there, and, er, our hero costumes...and...well, hero class at all...all we had in middle school was gym class...
[ Which on the whole might not have ended a whole lot better. Gym class when you are the number one target for everyone's dismissive dislike is not exactly a fun time, although Izuku isn't about to start complaining about it. He's just assuming Katsuki is concussed rather than testing him about their shared memories because of course that's where his mind is jumping to, so he's fretting about it. ]
Okay, I don't actually - I don't have my first aid kit. Oh no. I don't have my anything, but maybe you should sit down? Wait, we have to do the - like, can you follow my finger with your eyes? I don't have a light but we should be able to do a quick check -
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💥 002. ▶ DRAMATIS PERSONAE. *click for dropdown*
002. ▶ DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
💥 ❶ TLM - MARINER
[As a mariner, you can find Bakugo captaining a ship out in the water, hunting for whatever it is the orders are to hunt (fish, treasure, routes, etc) and doing a hell of a job at it. While he will resolutely refuse to hunt merfolk, much less capture them, he's likewise not afraid of sea witches or other monsters in the deep, opting to focus on his mission and bring home the best catch possible and completely outdo all the other ships who went out for the same thing! Do you serve under him as his crew? Are you a merfolk curious of his boisterous captaining? Do you want to try your hand at usurping him or dragging him into the depths? Go for it! Alternatively, feel free to find him ashore shopping in the marketplace, resting in an inn, tending to ship repairs, and other land-locked activities.]
💥 ❷ TLM - MERFOLK
[As a merman, Bakugo spends his time as a guard to the royal family, a law officer to the aquatic folk, or a warrior facing off against sea creatures and surface-dwelling threats. He's got quite the reputation for being extremely skilled with a sparkling track record of success, and downright crap attitude due to his pride, aggressiveness, and competitive nature. Are you a fellow member of the guard, are you getting into trouble trying to five-fin discount something from the market, are you a sea witch trying to tempt him or his companion, a sea monster trying to take him out, or perhaps a surface dweller who came upon him topside at some point and want to chance it getting close to him? Go for it! Alternatively, feel free to find him polishing his armor and weapons, helping with aquatic repairs, swimming his routes, training in combat, or perhaps even playing some kind of underwater sport with other competitors.]
💥 003. ▶ UNDERWATER. *click for dropdown*
003. ▶ UNDERWATER.
💥 ❶ UNDERWATER - Royal Chase
[Goddammit! Why is it so hard for people to stick to the schedule?! They knew this was coming for weeks now, but the bastard just had to bail and leave everything up in arms with their disappearance. Bakugo's growling to himself as he swims from the palace out into the waters around the royal grounds. He's certainly not the only guard out here looking for the royal vanishing act, but he's determined to find their ditching ass and drag them right back home where they belong! BEFORE the proceedings begin and make an even worse issue! He's going to sweep the royal grounds quickly, but then head out into the city proper, because why the hell would they run away, just to stick around the place they're most likely to be caught? This is gonna take all fucking day... Feel free to either be the person Bakugo's pursuing, or be a fellow guard or civilian who is either helping his search or hindering (the latter at your own risk if he finds out).]
💥 ❷ UNDERWATER - Shipwrecks
[Despite being a royal guard, Bakugo's still a teenager and even those get time off from their duties. Or in this guy's case, is basically forced to take a day off because he's stubbornly resolute in his duties. Either he got kicked out of his post for the day or he got dragged out by a companion, but for now, Bakugo's irritation is tempered with a sense of curious adventure as he swims into the shipwreck with a few other merfolk. Of course he's leading the exploration! You think he trusts some naive dumbass to call the shots here! Generally he avoids interacting with people from outside his known familiarity, but if you can catch him alone, he may or may not be more amenable to letting you tag along as he swims through the ship and checks it out. Expect him to be more interested in weapons, such as canons, knives, guns, and the like. Bother him about shiny treasure or magical artifacts, however, and at least he could spare some attention to make sure you don't kill yourself... or just watch you make a complete fool of yourself.]
💥 ❸ UNDERWATER - Sea Witches
[Shorter prompt, but Bakugo has zero intention of making deals with or interacting with Sea Witches. If you're a companion of his and either want to make a deal with a Sea Witch or have foolishly talked to him about it, expect him to prevent you from following through with that. Including beating your ass and tying you up to some kind of anchor until the sense comes back into your head... Doesn't matter how close you are to the Sea Witch, from starting out or already talking to the wretch, Bakugo's arrival means you're gonna have to fight to make that deal happen for yourself. That's what you get for being the companion of a stubborn hero type who hates "cheating" things into success.]
shipwrecks
Hythlodaeus picks up the gun with a sense of curiosity, apparently not knowing what he's holding.
"Odd that it should be here. Is it a toy, mayhap?"
Swimming himself over to Bakugo, he hands it over.
"What do you think? Have you seen aught like it before?"
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"It's a gun. You shoot people with it." And aims it to the side, finger on the trigger. He doesn't pull, but mimes the brief recoil of a shot. "Don't have them in your world?"
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"No, I have never seen one before."
Which means he's not really sure what it means to shoot somebody.
"It isn't a toy, then?"
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"It's a weapon. It shoots metal bullets at the target." Just in case the guy needs more an explanation.
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"Ah, similar to a bow in some respects, then?"
It looks very compact for something with a similar function, but he's never been the type to nerd out over weapons.
"Surely we can find something more interesting than that. Come, let's see if we can find something at the next boat. What are you hoping to find?"
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endwalker spoilers here!
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endwalker spoilers here!
me over here looking at all these FF names going "word spaghetti"
lmao SORRY they're a lot
What happened to Cloud, Cid, Squall, Vivi - short and sweet
Cid still exists in 14 at least haha
Original FF7 Cid?
nope, different! there's a lot of Cids haha
cid the skwid
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💥 004. ▶ GHOST SHIPS. *click for dropdown*
004. ▶ GHOST SHIPS.
💥 ❶ GHOST SHIPS - Kidnapped
[Regardless of whether Bakugo's a merfolk or a mariner, the reaction is still the same: an aggressive explosion of rage and dire combat. This is NOT the first time in his life he's been kidnapped, and it's because of that the blonde hero has such an intense reaction to it. PTSD? Maybe, not that he'll admit it, but the severe injury to his pride is enough to make him lash out to show these ghostly assholes he's not some damn prize to be won or captive to be held down! It'll be difficult for any ghost to force him down below deck for the holding cells, so you're likely to meet him above on the desk where he's battling his captors, cussing and shouting the entire time like a vicious gremlin. Whether that's with a pair of legs standing his ground and clashing swords in hand, or a shiny green-and-orange finned tail slamming against his opponents, Bakugo's not going down without a fight. Including his Quirk, which allows him to ignite powerful explosions from the palms of his hands. Either join him in the fight for freedom or try to suppress him to the crew: the choice is yours.]
💥 ❷ GHOST SHIPS - Battle Boats
[It's not the first time he's clashed with ghost ships while out sailing. Bakugo's avoided these areas for this exact reason, but sometimes, you have to face the darkness to do what's needed. Case in point, towing back a crippled ship. He captained his own ship to the struggling vessel, patched her up enough to float, and the combined crews worked to tether the damaged ship to his own, then began the trip back. Only for this damn group of ghostly ghouls to swing down and attack. Canon fire and salt shots burst through the air, shattering decaying wood from the ghost ship or blowing saline clouds around to distract and deter the undead seamen. Bakugo clashes swords with the ghostly captain of the ship, snarling in defiance in his rotting face. There's no way he's losing his ship or the rescued one to these scum! Join him in the fight or do your damnest to try and take him down. Pick the poison preferred.]
💥 ❸ GHOST SHIPS - Lost Souls
[Fog. Fog. It's a white canvas out here, ever changing with no form or shape. Bakugo has anchored his ship to the side of a rocky island to wait out the fog, commanding his crew to stay on the ship on pain of being marooned on the island. (Not going to, but damn does he threaten it.) He doesn't trust this fog and that's quickly proven to be a right concern. The ship is currently host to occasional globes of light drifting through the fog, little golden fireflies wandering around as the crew seeks to locate and chase down what was once theirs. A voice, a memory, a power, a possession, who the hell knows, but Bakugo's currently trying to find his voice. Whoever ends up with his is going to find themselves with a rather rough, deeper tone that growls and commands presence. And may or may not come with the inclination to be pretty foul mouthed and loud at the same time. At least that means it's easy to track down? Don't be surprised to find yourself face to face with an angry blonde who's more than willing to throttle your to give his damn voice back! ... if you're stubborn about it. Otherwise, feel free to find him having to deal with a troublesome ability or issue that he unwittingly "received" from someone else on his ship.]
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The splash of his swimming is muted in the water, but he's not really going for stealth right this second. ]
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Shit. [... THAT'S NOT HIS VOICE!! Katsuki claps a hand to his mouth, then slowly draws it back.] What the...
[He'd know that voice from anywhere. And quickly heads to the side of the ship. He knows for a fact his childhood friend wasn't a member of his crew this time around, so that's leaves-]
Dammit, Deku, where are you?
[Yeah, enjoy getting yelled at by your own voice, Izuku.]
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It works anyway. Of course Izuku recognizes his own voice. And of course Katsuki's gruff tone is not at all suited for the response he gets, with Izuku's more polite manner. ]
Kacchan, keep it down... [ A bobbing head in the waves. ] There's sailors out there hunting merfolk.
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Katsuki tenses up when his own voice comes back from the water. Shit, Deku got HIS voice?! How the hell did that even happen? Why is Izuku even in this same area? Questions rampant in his mind all of a sudden.]
No one's hunting shit right now; everyone's lost something and's chasing these golden balls around the ship! Why the fuck are you here?
[How awkward.]
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[ Like. His voice, obviously, but also probably one of his various Quirks which is why he sounds so anxious. He kind of likes having those largely because they're connected to actual people even if those people are ghosts.
They're his emotional support ghost friends. ]
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kidnapped
the most familiar thing that he knows, of course, is struggling and fighting for survival. so in a way, this is the most natural place he can be.
however, he's never been a fish before. or a half-fish. or whatever this is. that lio is barely able to dodge one net that nearly drops on top of him for another to take its place, weighted by heavy iron sinkers. the former burnish tries to fight it, trying to grasp onto the thick fibers, trying to pull them apart... but he can't. that his tail is becoming more and more tangled causes panic to rise in his chest--- he knows he can breathe underwater. the gills along his neck make it so. and yet. ]
Get me... out of this!
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no matter what, the goal's the same: get back into the water! as much as he'd love to put a damn hole in this boat and sink it, bakugou's not a murderer. (if they were undead, well... different story.) but that fellow shout comes from the side and he already knows what's happening. a hard explosion launches him into an arch over the heads of the pirates, missing a lance by a centimeter, and lands back in the water. it only takes a second to find the net dragging up another merman.
dammit, why do they have to come near the boats?! he swims forward, grabs for the weighted sinkers.] Arch your back for a second!
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Yeah, okay! Got it!
[ arch his back. right. that he can do. when he does it, he can see the sleek scales of his lower half, the florescent fins barely in sight billowing from the tiniest movement in the water. ]
... I... oh. Hm.
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as soon as lio does what he says, bakugou grabs the weighted net ends in one hand and another explosion rends them to pieces. small sharpnel drifts in the water as he rips open the rims of the net, trying to drag it back down to prevent the pirates from hauling the other boy further up.] Kick your legs upward! You'll get pushed down!
[he would've said tail, but considering this guy could be first-time-merfolk, might as well keep it familiar.]
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💥 005. ▶ ISLAND CITY. *click for dropdown*
005. ▶ ISLAND CITY.
💥 ➊ AURELIA - Wedding
[Let's get this out of the way first: IT'S NOT HIS!! Marriage is WAY too far out in his life to even be considering. However, Bakugo can likely get caught up in the trappings of it, either as a guard watching over the venue (and thus being on point when/if it gets attacked by undead pirates) or as a worker preparing for it, whether that's growling about decorating the boat or serving in the castle kitchen as a cook to whip up some amazing food. Keep the sappy, sweet shit away from him and just let him focus on the work at hand, either preparing or battling depending what happens during the bride and groom's day of days. Coworker, companion, rival, enemy, the options for this one are pretty varied, so join in with whatever flavor you want! Just know, it's gonna be a hell of a day for one reason or another.]
💥 ➋ AURELIA - General
[This prompt's just a catch all for anything you might want to do with Bakugo around the city. Feel free to join him while he's swimming in the bay or sunbathing on the beach (merman or mariner as you like). Or catch him shopping in the marketplace for food or supplies, whether that's for his ship or for the castle. Feel like assisting him in training with a weapon or special ability, join up for that anywhere you like. Tour his ship or help unload the hull of fish or cargo. Or on the wetter side of things, explore the perimeter of the city as merfolk, though this will likely be Bakugo finding you and dragging your ass back to safer waters before you get them in trouble. Unless you want to assume CR between surface dweller and merfolk and this is your routine meeting for whatever. A general city-wide grab bag.]