(no subject)

[sphererpmod]

Holiday mingle log

It’s the most wonderful (welcome) time of the year

Christmas is coming earlier and earlier every year, which isn't a surprise but hey they're starting the Christmas/Winter stuff the week before thanksgiving. Because why not. this month’s party takes place in the Merchant dome. But it’s not the everyday appearance of the merchant dome. No, for the next five days the Merchant dome’s appearance has been altered to look like a sort of Bavarian Christmas Market. There are small clusters of tables every so often, so people can just sit and chat and eat and drink.

Some enterprising person has even managed to make it snow through some unknown means. It’s not cold, but the snow is soft and steady and slowly building up.

The entire dome, all of the streets and all of the merchant stalls are practically glowing with white fairy lights that are strung everywhere. Vendors in their stalls gleefully cry out to paterons passing by, offering them free food or drinks. The food consists of the sort of things that one might expect to find in a place like this: sausages on buns and on sticks, pretzels, pizza, loads of cookies of every variety that one could think of, including elaborately decorated gingerbread, chocolates, fruits, french fries. Think winter fair food, and be as absurd and as complicated and extra as you want. It is a fair, after all. Go nuts. Drinks are also along the same line: hot cider, mulled wine, hot buttered rum, hot chocolate both with booze and without, as well as all the normal things: water, coffee, tea, milk, soda, and a variety of fruit juices that you’ve both heard of and not.

But food isn’t the only free thing that people are giving away! They’re also offering characters hats and gloves and scarves, small toys, books, delicate ornaments, perfumes, wine… it’s a giant welcome party after all, and these people are cheerful and happy. Even offering to pay just gets met with laughter and being told not to worry about it.

Fun and frivolity.

There are even carnival rides set up! A medium sized ferris wheel, a carousel, a giant slide and ice skating ring are all along the outside of the stalls.

At the far end of the dome, the snow has fallen deeper and held to several inches. Wouldn’t you know it just happens to be perfect snowball snow! So, there of course needs to be a snowball fight! What did you think those free mittens and gloves and scarves are for after all? The snowball fight can be organized into teams, or one on one depending on the player’s choice. This is a friendly fight, of course, so no rocks or slush balls or anything. Well, probably not. No one in the Sphere is your mother.

So you want some summer?.

While the welcome party rages on in the merchant dome, people have made a smaller party in one of the recreation domes. Around the pools, as a matter of fact. There’s almost like a small barbecue clustered around the largest of the three pools, and the light is constant and sunny here. The large pool is olympic sized, and is a sparkling blue. It’s fresh water, and probably clean enough to drink. I still wouldn’t drink it. The second pool is slightly smaller and more kidney shaped with a gradual sand mound at one end of it. This pool is salt water and looks a bit more like a beach than a pool. The third pool is a kiddie pool, complete with a splash pad, that’s running. Buckets drop, it’s got one of those mushroom things, and sprinkler jets. There aren’t any kids though, so people are welcome to go nuts.

Bathing suits and towels are provided in the changing rooms. There’s frozen and fruity drinks flowing freely, along with finger food and snacks. Loud music is playing from a local band that’s just generally of a pop sort. There’s people dancing rather in a rather haphazard fashion, but the dance floor is there and present!

Oh yeah, and there's definitely the baths and everything too!

Network.

In the Sphere, the network is neural, and accessed via touching the glowing golden circle behind your character’s ear. They can identify themselves with a screen name if you so desire, but messages should be one of three ways or a combination of them. 1. Audio. Your character thinks audible words onto the network. 2. Writing: Your character thinks text into the network. 3. Video. Your character projects a broadcast of a video of themselves onto the network. Replies are determined by the player.

The network needs to be accessed by choice, so character broadcasts are not automatically beamed directly into people’s heads. The Sphere isn’t that rude.

Private messages are allowed by pressing and holding and pressing and holding again as you picture the person in your mind. This can be an image or a name, err more on the side of things being more accessible than less.

Welcome to my nightmare.

For anyone within the architecture dome, the library dome, the sunlight rec dome and any personal dome that people chose, around midnight people will have a curiously tired sensation. They just need to rest their eyes for a moment, or some may fall asleep for longer. No matter the length of time that the character is out, the nightmare infects them, and when they wake they will be filled with a curious but urgent sensation.

They have lost something. The loss can be a physical object, an emotion, a memory, a person or perhaps a sense of self. If the lost person is currently present in the game, they will be unable to be seen by the character who is experiencing the waking nightmare. Urgency will grip the character, because the longer the sensation goes on for, the worse it becomes. Characters can search and scrounge for their loss everywhere, but until the nightmare is over, they will not find whatever it is. Even if it is themselves. Instead, they may be frantic, angry, or just play old scared to death. They need to find this at whatever cost. Where they may find it is something that their own brains will settle on, but of course until the nightmare is over, they will not be able to.

The nightmare ends with either the character falling into a normal, restful sleep naturally or through some other means (someone might mention the infirmary has sedation medication just for the is purpose, or that there’s always a brick) or when they are woken with the intervention of someone else. The intervention of someone else is entirely up to you, and can come from a player character or a NPC, depending on how the player is feeling with the thread. By intervention we mean someone who is able to talk the person out of the nightmare, or to slap or shake them out, or to use some sort of trick that shows them that they are indeed inside of a nightmare. The knowledge that someone is affected by a nightmare must come from an external source, and should come from a character that your character would trust. After all, would you believe someone who told you that you were in a nightmare if you didn’t know that? That said, the best way to deal with waking someone is to remove them from the affected domes. Too bad you don’t know which domes are affected.

Comments

Alex Manes | Roswell, New Mexico

[notmybattle]

[Most Wonderful Time]

The lack of cold throws Alex off for a moment. Normally, if it was warm then it meant that snow wouldn't stick to the ground. This snow? It definitely stuck. Just the thought alone gets a small smile out of him.

Food and drink is taken with a bit of precaution, though he has people telling him that it was alright. Didn't mean that he'd trust it. He didn't know these people. Not that he thinks they'd hurt him, he doesn't. That would've been like going to war and expecting everyone to hurt him.

So, he tries the few things given to him. Tries not to be amused at the idea that people were handing things out for free. Nothing was ever free. Something was definitely up, but he wasn't sure what. For now? He'd walk the streets and do what he did best, pay attention.

If things were off he'd take action. Luckily, nothing seemed that way so far. Something that he hoped stayed that way.

[Fun and frivolity]

Alex can't remember the last time that he'd been to a carnival. So, the idea of ferris wheels and carousels amuses him a bit. Something like this is something he's sure that his mother would've loved. His brothers too if they hadn't been trapped under their father's thumb.

It's not that he doesn't know how to have fun, it's just that it's been a while. So, he doesn't hesitate to head off to the giant slide or even venture to the ferris wheel. Maybe before too long he'd head off and try a bit of ice skating. Not that he thinks it'll go over well, but it was worth a shot.

[Network]

audio; un: Manes

No offense, but this feels more like a government project than anything else. Does someone know what's really going on here?


[Wildcard]

Throw whatever you want at me and I'll go with it.

most wonderful

[toivory]

[Sansa was always a graceful girl. She'd been raised to be a lady, and she stood here in the Sphere as a queen in her home. Even so, she had always had an elegant way of moving. Of course, that was a few cups of wine ago, and now that grace meant her body was moving a bit faster than her feet. Or perhaps it was the other way around?

It didn't matter, because regardless, Sansa was careening into a young man around her age, stumbling into him. She places her hands up to brace herself.]

Can't even blame the ice, can you? [There was no ice, just the snow.]

[notmybattle]

[The last thing that Alex expected was to be run into by a young woman. Someone who seemed a bit... inebriated. Then again, it was bound to happen with all the drinks and assorted foods that the Sphere was supplying to the newcomers.

He gives her a brief smile and helps steady her a bit.]

Can't blame something that doesn't seem to be around, no. You could, however, blame the snow. It can get just as slippery as ice if you're not careful.

[toivory]

No, no, these are my shoes from home, [She explains immediately.] They're made for the snow. Hundreds of feet high snow.

[She brushes off her dress.]

I know snow very well. My brother- have you seen him? Broody and scowling? He'd say I tripped over my feet.

[There were a few things Sansa quite enjoyed about the Sphere. One of them was that she was able to really embrace her youth and the world around her. She could drink and laugh and be a young woman on her own.]

I didn't trip over them.

[notmybattle]

Hundreds of feet?

[The idea of that much snow kind of confuses Alex a bit. It's not that he's not seen it or anything. He'd seen quite a bit when he'd been off at war, but not that much.]

No. I don't think I've seen your brother.

[Brothers were a bit of a sore spot for Alex, but he does his best to ignore it. At least she had a good relationship with hers, it seemed.]

What happened or did you just get ahead of yourself?

[toivory]

Hundreds of feet of solid ice. Ask Jon Snow- he's around here. [Somewhere. She wasn't going to worry about it right now.]

Just a bit ahead of myself. I kept going, they stayed behind.

I apologize-- I'm not usually like this.

[notmybattle]

If I ever run into him, I'll remember to ask.

[He's a bit worried about her, actually. Even if he doesn't actually know her.]

How about we get you sitting down. I'm Alex, by the way.

[After all, better to have a name to go with the face of a stranger. Right?]

[toivory]

Hullo, Alex.

[She smiles at him, somehow looking up at him despite her tall frame. Her smile is lazy, but it's honest.]

I am [Whoo boy.] Sansa Stark, Queen in the North, and Lady of Winterfell. [She extends her hand for him to kiss or bow to or something]

[notmybattle]

[He can't help but smile a little. Whether she's an actual queen or not was a whole other story. Alex didn't know her from Adam or Eve, so anything was possible. Especially in a place like this one.

So, he does take her hand and kisses the top of it. There's no way in hell he'd bow to her or anyone. The military man wouldn't be subjected to that.]

It's a pleasure to meet you, Sansa Stark. How about we get you sitting down now? That way you don't go slipping again.

Fun and Frivolity

[unbreakable_king]

Ice skating. This is something that Rhy is not really experienced with, and he's still pleased at the idea. So at least Alex might not be the only one who is not really suited to it. Or perhaps Alex is naturally graceful. Rhy? Naturally graceful, but definitely falling on his ass as he tries to get his skates under him and failing a lot.

And it's earning a cheerful laugh from him. He's made it ONCE around the area, with a few bumps and bruises, and he smiles at the nearest person who enters the rink.

"Ever done this before? Would you be so kind as to give a gentleman a hand if you are familiar?"

Is there a flirtatious tone to his voice? Absolutely.

[notmybattle]

Ice skating isn't something that Alex has actually tried before. When you live in a place like Roswell, New Mexico it's not bound to happen. Too much desert and not enough ice. On top of that? Having a prosthetic leg makes it a bit hard. Didn't mean that he wasn't determined to be out on the ice. No matter how many times he fell on his ass.

That laugh has him looking over towards the stranger. One who had probably fallen down as many times as he has. If any of his friends were around they'd be laughing at him. At least he was having fun. Something that he hasn't really tried to do since everything back home.

"No, I've never done this before. Hard to do in a desert area."

He does, however, offer his hand towards the other man noting the tone. He hadn't expected that, but it doesn't mean that Rhy doesn't get a smile out of the war vet. If they both end up on their asses again trying to get him up, then... oops.

[unbreakable_king]

"Ah, a desert? Quite interesting. I've never seen one before. We haven't any near London, nor in the whole of the island of Arnes. There are further parts of the country that has them," the man says.

But he does take the hand and tries to get to his feet. And when he falls, well, there's just more delighted laughter. This truly is an experience that he's enjoying, for all of the soreness it's giving him.

"Seems like neither of us are doing it now either."

[notmybattle]

"Never?"

It doesn't surprise him that people haven't seen the desert. Not too many head out towards New Mexico. Or Roswell, for that matter. Not unless they decide they want to see alien exhibits and the like. However, he's never heard of Arnes. That one was new to him.

That laughter gets laughter out of the war vet and he shakes his head before trying to get up again. Trying to help the stranger up as well," Would seem that way. Maybe it would be better if we slid over towards the wall."

Maybe they'd have better luck getting up that way.

[unbreakable_king]

Ah, but he probably has heard of London. Which is quite similar to the London of his world. Parallel dimensions and the like. Fun.

"Yes, the wall may indeed be a better choice," Rhy agrees, and he rolls tonto his knees to try and get up his feet. Just enough to keep his body low and try and move forward. "Clearly I'm not suited to this. Never mastered water, so why should I handle ice well?"

[notmybattle]

He's definitely heard of London, though he's never actually been there. Parallel dimensions would be beyond him. Though, it doesn't mean that he wouldn't believe it. Not after what he's seen in his life. If aliens are real then why not alternate dimensions?

He manages, without any type of grace, to get back to the wall before giving a bit of a laugh," I don't think either of us are suited for this. I don't mind the water, but the ice is something of a different story."

[unbreakable_king]

"It's rarely ever truly cold in London. The Isle warms the city beautifully, and the place it is in within the world keeps it warm. Rainy, yes, but warm."

Of course the glowing river, that was just as much a leyline and source of magic in his world, really made things seem warmer sometimes than they truly were, with the red light it gave off.

"But clearly I'm not cut out for this."

[notmybattle]

"The nights get cold in Roswell, but stay pretty warm during the day," he tells him. Though, he could picture the warm weather in London. A part of him is even pretty sure that he wouldn't mind the rain. Which made him wonder if it rained in the Sphere, and if it did then what kept it from flooding the place.

"If this is your first time, you can't really say you're not cut out for it. The mantra is try, try, and try again. More like if you don't succeed the first time keep trying. You never know, you might find that you're really good at ice skating. It'll just take a bit of time to get used to."

audio; un: guerin

[guerin]

Alex...? [ Definitely a voice Michael hasn't been expecting to hear over the network. ]

audio; un: manes

[notmybattle]

Michael?

[That went both ways. He hadn't expected to hear that familiar voice. A voice that, kind of, pissed him off right now. Considering how things had gone down.]

What's going on?

[guerin]

Well, looks like you got pulled into this shithole too, I guess.

[notmybattle]

Would seem that way. Where the hell are you?

[A part of him wants to hit him, another just wants to know he's safe.]

When did you even get here?

[guerin]

Not sure I should answer that.

[ Just judging by Alex's tone and all. ]

A couple months ago.

[notmybattle]

Michael

[Just because he's pissed about being abandoned, doesn't mean he doesn't want to see him. To make sure with his own two eyes that the other is alright.]

... A couple months ago. How is that even possible?

[guerin]

A lot of things are possible here.

I'm in dome 200.

[notmybattle]

Like what? Explain it to me.

[He needed to know exactly what he was getting himself into. Possibly into.]

I'm coming to you.

[Even if he's not entirely sure where that was at. Didn't mean he wouldn't find him.]