spherememing | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

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.

"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."

"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.

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?"

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."

"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."

"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."

Oh dear, he would love to argue that nights could be warm in Roswell too, if only knew the right methods of staying warm.

But the 'try, try again' definitely earns a brief flash of frustration and anger from Rhy. Something that the royal quickly and easily tucks back away where it can't be scene.

"I have, over the years, learned a lot about my limitations."

That brief flash of frustration is something that Alex is used to. Mainly from his old man and his friends. Which means that he hit some kind of chord, something that he wasn't aiming for. He just knew that growing up, if you didn't try something more than once then a person couldn't say what they were or weren't good at. This was, after all, their first time.

"I didn't mean anything by it. Just grew up knowing that if something wasn't tried more than once, you couldn't say that you weren't good at something. If it's different where you're from, then I'm sorry for upsetting you. Like you said, you've learned a lot about your limitations. Only you can know that."

"I'm just more than familiar with when I will fail to succeed," Rhy dismisses, trying to keep his voice soft and friendly. "I've got plenty of experience. Which isn't meant to put a damper on the mood."

"Experience is something I can get behind," he tells him with a soft smile. After dealing with three tours in Iraq, he could definitely get behind someone knowing or having experiences in certain areas. Down to the point that they knew what in the world they were good at. It didn't, however, mean that things couldn't be tried more than once.

"How about we get out of the ice skates and go for a walk, see what we can find around here." A compromise, of sorts.

Ah, now this was something Rhy could get behind. He nods and puts more weight against the wall to pull himself along it.

"Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am Rhy Maresh, and it is a distinct pleasure to meet you."

It takes a moment for Alex to get away from the wall and over the bank, mainly due to the prosthetic leg, but he manages it. Moving over to a bench he sits down and starts to remove the skates, so he can get his shoes back on.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Rhy. Since you introduced yourself, I might as well introduce myself. I'm Alex Manes."

Manes, Maresh, so similar. He smiles and offers the man a brief bow after he gets himself onto the bench. Before that would have been a guaranteed fall.

"When I go home, I will most definitely suggest this to a few clubs I go to. They'd love to enjoy skating in the middle of summer."

The bow has him raising a brow, but he doesn't comment on it. He's not used to people doing that unless they're going dancing or something. It doesn't, however, stop him from smiling a bit. Could they go home? Was that even a thing in this place?

"I'm sure that they'd appreciate it. Maybe your place has some kind of indoor ice rink."

"No. But I think that Splendor should have one. It's a very fashionable place. In the cold of the winter they would have the place enchanted to be like summer. Warmth and Flame lanterns that made it look bright. Trees and grassy hills and all of that."

It was lovely. But this? This would be a great winter thing. But in the summer they did cooler things as well.

"Splendor?" That wasn't a name that Alex was familiar with. Though, he liked how Rhy described it. Even if he's not sure what to make of it. The place was enchanted? Magic really wasn't something that he believed in, but he could guess some did believe in it. Hell, he'd give it a try or, at least, try to believe. After all, he dealt with aliens.

"The place sounds amazing. Is that something that you and your people do every year? Or is that a place just for fun?"

Oh, it's a lot easier to believe in magic when you're from a world where magic was so inherent in everything that it was just about worshipped. And there was Rhy, a royal, with almost no magic to speak of.

Hell, there were people in the world who viewed his brother as a god.

"It's a place where the upper crust go for their fun, so they can pretend winter doesn't happen."

"No offense, but that sounds boring as hell."

The idea that anyone would pretend winter didn't exist was a new concept for him. It was bad enough that Roswell didn't really get that cold. They dealt with the desert heat far too much. Not that it wasn't a bad thing or anything, but still.

"It's a bit weird, actually, that there's a lack of cold here."

"Ah, but that's the goal, in some days. For the rich and powerful to enjoy things that are unavailable to those who lack that wealth and power," Rhy shrugs. It's a common facet of life, is it not? The haves indulge and the have nots scrimp on by.

"Is it, though? The people that have made this place clearly have some very amazing skills with technology. And surely it must be that. I don't see any of the lines that would indicate the work of enchantments. Which would mean we're somewhere adjacent to Gray London."

If it was one thing that Alex hated, it was people who thought they could do something just because of their wealth. That's not something that he'd ever get behind. Nor was it really something that happened in Roswell that often, if at all.

"They have something, at least," he says giving Rhy a bit of a smile. "We might not be adjacent to anything. Then again, we'll never know until we explore the place more."

Rhy shrugs, and soon he's got his shoes back on, and is sliding the blade guard into place over the borrowed skates. Very interesting ones, too. He likes it.

"My brother has told me of a world, Gray London, where humans don't have magic anymore. That when the doors between the four worlds were closed, we cut them off from that power. Instead they make all sorts of nimble contraptions. Not that I've seen them. But Kel has told me of things like music boxes that run off of gears. Gears, can you believe it?"

This Victorian era man hasn't exactly tried playing with his comm yet. He wouldn't know how.

"Every time you mention Gray London, you throw me off."

Until Rhy? He'd never even heard of Gray London, merely London. No gray anything. That was just weird to even say. Though, he can't help but give a bit of a smile and shakes his head a bit. Four worlds. Doors between worlds. That was even more messed up. He doesn't comment on it, though. Not when he knows actual aliens.

"You've never seen an actual music box before? All the ones you've seen haven't had gears in them?"

Not like the person that Rhy knew that mostly walked between the worlds, who effectively named them to Rhy's ears, knew about the world outside of the city of London. And it WAS the universal constant apparently. Four worlds, four Londons. All in the same place on the same river on the same nation. But nothing else seemed to overlap, or so he was told.

Alex? He was from Gray London's world. And, well, quite a bit of time in Rhy's future.

"We have them, but they're all clever enchantments. That's what my world, the world of Red London as my brother calls it, for the color of the Isle, uses. We're a very magically strong world."

(no subject)

notmybattle - 2019-11-30 06:38 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

unbreakable_king - 2019-12-01 19:28 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(no subject)

Fun and Frivolity

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)