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bopbay2025-05-10 10:00 am
bayhelpers) wrote in bopbay2025-05-10 10:00 am
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003 ⟡ MAY TEST DRIVE
⋆✩ test drive 03 ✩⋆
The day begins like any other.
Routines, eventful scenes, and boring errands — no matter what you were in the middle of, there's a moment where everything begins to feel wrong. A searing pain tears through your body, so intense that it feels like every nerve has been struck at once. Muscles spasm, joints scream in protest, and as you double over, you find yourself clawing or clinging at anything within your reach. As your attempts to maintain composure fail you, your bones begin to twist with an agonizing force, the pain rising in a crescendo until it becomes unbearable to even breathe. Then, as quickly as it began, everything stops.
For a single, terrifying moment, there's nothing. No sight, no sound, no touch, no taste, no smell — just the weight of nothingness swallowing you whole. The absence of sensation might even be worse than the pain, leaving you adrift in a void you can't escape. Hopelessness threatens every fiber of your existence, and try as you might to fight it, your darkest thoughts begin to surface, flooding your mind in an onslaught of suffocating feelings and ideas.
In the darkness, you hear a voice.
It's faint, a gentle flashing of something warm along the edges of your mind, like sunlight itself. It's a voice, but you can't identify who or what it comes from, how it sounds, or what it means — still, you know it's directed at you. Something tugs at your heart, a powerful ache that throbs once and ripples outwards. You can feel the aches again, like fresh sores throughout your body. You feel off, like something isn't quite right, like you're not where you should be, or who you should be. But the voice continues, whispered just beyond your understanding. The sound is warm like hope, and it wraps around you, distant yet intent, before you wake up.
i. arrivals
FROM TUNNELS DEEP
The scent of must meets your nostrils, perhaps more strongly than it normally would. To open your eyes is to meet the dark — though if you're fortunate it could be that something about this new body, or perhaps the body of another, leaves some faint illumination to see by. Either way it soon becomes clear that where you are is somewhere underground. They are deep and sprawling tunnels, with corners of some unknown civilization storied away in their many carvings and ruined pottery. Portions of the cavern walls even bear the appearance of old structures and dwellings, as if the earth itself swallowed a city whole.
Trickling through the tunnels in quiet streams are tendrils of fog. It's difficult to see, but not in the least hard to feel. The mist is damp and cloying, clinging to every inch it finds on you to the point that it seems to grasp at the very soul; and the longer one lets it have its way, the worst it feels. You begin to question your body. Your mind. Your very memories — are they really yours?
Staying underground may be unwise anyway. Diglett and Dugtrio soon make themselves known to the weary arrivals here, and unlike these newcomers they have had far too long to succumb to the mist. They will attack without hesitation, and the only options are to fight or flee above ground.
The forest above unfortunately is not much better. The fog here is thick, even if some light somehow makes its way through the canopy above. What could have once been helpful landmarks become sources of dizzying misunderstanding, and the gnarled trees seem to move when no one watches. Rescuers from the city will have their work cut out for them once it becomes clear how many could be stranded out there, and time will be of the essence. The sooner that these wanderers can be brought to the clinic to be treated, the better!
ii. under the weather
RAIN RAIN, GO AWAY
The first thing anyone will notice as the month of May truly sets in, is the rain. Light or heavy, sunny or cloudy, a near constant rain pours down upon Bottlecap Bay and its surrounding areas. There's no escaping it; it pours, and it pours, and it pours ever long, until it becomes impossible to do even basic tasks outside one's dwelling without getting soaked to the bone.
While it's not unusual to receive rain at this time of the year, the amount of rain is unnatural according to the Guild Leaders. To ensure no one suffers any more than they already have, all three are quick to open their doors to these new Pokemon in their midst. Or at least, they're quick to offer other foreigner's doors. Pokemon who originated from other worlds soon find themselves with new bunkmates and housemates, and with the rain as bad as it is there’s no good way to refuse.
It's best to remain in similar company after all, and until there’s time to sort out who fits where, it’s all these newcomers have.
While it's not unusual to receive rain at this time of the year, the amount of rain is unnatural according to the Guild Leaders. To ensure no one suffers any more than they already have, all three are quick to open their doors to these new Pokemon in their midst. Or at least, they're quick to offer other foreigner's doors. Pokemon who originated from other worlds soon find themselves with new bunkmates and housemates, and with the rain as bad as it is there’s no good way to refuse.
It's best to remain in similar company after all, and until there’s time to sort out who fits where, it’s all these newcomers have.
THE WATER CYCLE
While Pokemon begin to settle into their new lives at Bottlecap Bay, the rain continues to fall. On some days it’s harder — hard enough to bring sheets thick enough to blot vision, sharp enough to leave unprotected pelts stinging for minutes after retreating inside. Thunder booms, and lightning flashes, a clear message to all within the city when they see it. These storms are bad. Dangerous. And the danger is in more than just the weather itself.
At first the signs are subtle. Those same symptoms from the forest can be felt, lasting only as long as a Pokemon is damp from the downpour outside. Even the gentle drizzle causes absent thoughts, an empty mind staring into the distant grey skies as you forget.
Staring longer still, as you remember. But is what you're remembering actually yours? Something about the concentration of forest mist in the form of raindrops changes the effects as the days go by. The body and mind rebel against what it knows doesn't belong, and it finally comes bursting out with a shout! Those memories you've seen, they aren't yours! They're someone else's!
And the world needs to hear it!
At first the signs are subtle. Those same symptoms from the forest can be felt, lasting only as long as a Pokemon is damp from the downpour outside. Even the gentle drizzle causes absent thoughts, an empty mind staring into the distant grey skies as you forget.
Staring longer still, as you remember. But is what you're remembering actually yours? Something about the concentration of forest mist in the form of raindrops changes the effects as the days go by. The body and mind rebel against what it knows doesn't belong, and it finally comes bursting out with a shout! Those memories you've seen, they aren't yours! They're someone else's!
And the world needs to hear it!
iii. the archives
RECORDS KEEPING
The longer the rainfall persists, the more clear it is that staying outside is unwise. Not only is it dangerous to non-water type Pokemon's health for the most part, but the full scope of side effects only increase the risks. After one too many shouting matches caused by vitriolic memories, Polteageist offers a simple but beneficial solution. The doors of the archives are opened up, as senior members in the Lum Guild offer up their time as temporary librarians.
Polteageist's solution is as follows; instead of training their bodies out in the rain, everyone will be training their brains. There have been many questions raised over the last number of weeks, and now is the time for everyone to investigate the mysteries. Entering the Archives means entering a building of clear splendor, filled with couches and beanbags for sitting and beautiful flowers and plants to accentuate the green hues within the halls. The shelves are well stocked with records kept on stone tablets, and the additional guides within the guild are eager to help everyone find what they're looking for.
The illustrious leader of the Lum Berries is well aware however, that not everyone is willing to spend all their time reading. As it would be counterproductive to expect anyone to sit twiddling their thumbs (or tails, or ears) he has thus arranged for a few of the archive meeting rooms to host additional activities. They are simple things; there's classes on recording writings properly in clay before firing, minor history lessons where newly arrived Pokemon can share in what many others already know, and even community building exercises. They're nothing like the escape rooms organized during the last two months, but they're good for passing the time.
And eventually, the rain will hopefully calm down. A few skilled Psychic Pokemon are offering their services to keep others dry until then however, at least so that everyone can get home safely.
Polteageist's solution is as follows; instead of training their bodies out in the rain, everyone will be training their brains. There have been many questions raised over the last number of weeks, and now is the time for everyone to investigate the mysteries. Entering the Archives means entering a building of clear splendor, filled with couches and beanbags for sitting and beautiful flowers and plants to accentuate the green hues within the halls. The shelves are well stocked with records kept on stone tablets, and the additional guides within the guild are eager to help everyone find what they're looking for.
The illustrious leader of the Lum Berries is well aware however, that not everyone is willing to spend all their time reading. As it would be counterproductive to expect anyone to sit twiddling their thumbs (or tails, or ears) he has thus arranged for a few of the archive meeting rooms to host additional activities. They are simple things; there's classes on recording writings properly in clay before firing, minor history lessons where newly arrived Pokemon can share in what many others already know, and even community building exercises. They're nothing like the escape rooms organized during the last two months, but they're good for passing the time.
And eventually, the rain will hopefully calm down. A few skilled Psychic Pokemon are offering their services to keep others dry until then however, at least so that everyone can get home safely.
✩ OOC NOTES.
⟡ TDM CWS: body horror, disorientation, hallucinations, dysphoria
⟡ TDMs are game canon and act as events for the month they are posted.
⟡ New characters can link to their top level beneath the NEWBIE DIRECTORY
⟡ All new arrivals are not assigned to any one guild. However, if they participate in the Archive's bonding activities, they may receive a unique reward.
⟡ Remember that at least one thread for your application must come from the TDM! There is no comment minimum, but we will be looking for engagement, as well as for players and characters who take the time to delve into things like character thoughts, emotions, morality, and other deep themes. Take this time to engage with the setting as you would in game!
⟡ As a reminder, reserves and applications are permanently opened. Please see their respective pages for details on processing time.
⟡ Have any questions related to the TDM? Ask here! If your question is more general for the game, please make sure to direct it to the FAQ page instead. Thank you, and happy threading!
⟡ TDMs are game canon and act as events for the month they are posted.
⟡ New characters can link to their top level beneath the NEWBIE DIRECTORY
⟡ All new arrivals are not assigned to any one guild. However, if they participate in the Archive's bonding activities, they may receive a unique reward.
⟡ Remember that at least one thread for your application must come from the TDM! There is no comment minimum, but we will be looking for engagement, as well as for players and characters who take the time to delve into things like character thoughts, emotions, morality, and other deep themes. Take this time to engage with the setting as you would in game!
⟡ As a reminder, reserves and applications are permanently opened. Please see their respective pages for details on processing time.
⟡ Have any questions related to the TDM? Ask here! If your question is more general for the game, please make sure to direct it to the FAQ page instead. Thank you, and happy threading!
no subject
Firepaw swats at the Diglett a few more times, giving Technus a running start before he turns tail to follow him. There's no shame in running - in fact, he's far more worried about them getting too hurt to keep running before they make it out.
He's very fast, though, and manages to pull ahead so he can guild the Rotom. He's following his own scent toward the surface, and glancing back every so often to make sure that Technus is still keeping up.]
How are you feeling? Are you hurt?
no subject
[Technus glows slightly, letting him light his own surroundings.]
WHAT IS THIS PLACE?
no subject
We're in a place called Bottlecap Bay - folk come here from different worlds, and get turned into strange animals called Pokemon. Most of the newcomers are Twolegs - humans - but not all of them. I used to be a cat.
[And he still looks like a cat, for the most part. It took him over an hour to realize anything had changed, when he first came here.]
no subject
[The cat thing gives him pause. Firepaw seemed human enough to him- sapient, capable of communication. But Technus has never owned a cat. He'd lived in a variety of apartment buildings throughout his life, all either too crowded for pets or just not allowing residents to have them. So perhaps cats are smarter than they seem?]
THAT IS TO SAY, [He clarifies, once the cat thing is mentioned and he realizes that "Twoleg" is just Firepaw's word for humans,] I WAS HUMAN, BUT THEN I DIED AND BECAME A GHOST. I DO NOT KNOW IF THAT STILL QUALIFIES AS HUMAN.
no subject
I don't know either - but I can ask one of my friends when we get back to the city. Emporio knows everything.
[Granted, Firepaw frequently overestimates how much Emporio knows... but it's usually a safe assumption that Emporio will know something relevant.]
I don't know all of the Pokemon species, and you're something I haven't seen before. But we can ask Ingo or Emmet what you are - or one of the guild leaders. They'll know if you can learn anything that will work against Digletts, too... but you're probably better off not coming back to this part of the forest. It's really dangerous here.
no subject
WHATEVER I AM, IT SEEMS I HAVE KEPT MY GHOSTLY ABILITIES! I AM GLAD FOR THAT- I DO NOT KNOW WHAT I WOULD DO WITHOUT THEM.
no subject
[At least, nothing that a Litten can't do just as well.
Firepaw hops up onto a ledge, and leads Technus to a hole in the ceiling that leads up to the forest. It's a long climb, but he manages it well enough that it sort of looks like he's just running upward. Once he gets up to the top, his fur puffs up uncomfortably. It's partly from the cold, partly from the light rain falling down on them, and partly because he hates being in the Southern Forest.]
The city is um... north, from here. A few.... Gyarados-lengths, I think? [Wait, that's a completely useless measurement, because he just made it up. Hold on...] It takes half an hour to walk to the Canopy - that's where my guild lives.
no subject
[Technus did not keep all his powers- Rotom does not know Teleport, after all, which is something Technus was able to do- but he's unaware of this.]
WHAT IS THIS GYARADOS OF WHICH YOU SPEAK?
no subject
[He's trying so hard. He's slowly getting better at using human terminology, but he still thinks in cat terms and then translates them.]
no subject
He wonders where the term "foot" to measure length came from, and wishes he had the internet to look it up, and maybe other trivia about measurement. He does remember some trivia about feet without having to look it up, though, which results in him stating this nonsequiter:]
THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD FOOT IS 0.000002 METERS SHORTER THAN WHAT IT WAS WHEN I WAS YOUNGER. IT WAS STANDARDIZED WHEN I WAS AROUND SIXTY YEARS OLD.
no subject
Years are... four seasons, right? You lived for sixty of those?
[Another pause.]
I'm eleven moons old.
no subject
[Most ghosts died younger than Technus did, so his age is a point of pride for him.]
...A MOON... IS THAT A MONTH? SO ELEVEN MOONS WOULD ALSO BE FOUR SEASONS?
no subject
[Firepaw can't count that high - he may as well be speaking to an immortal being, and he's very impressed.]
I think it's a month, yeah. We start counting days after the full moon - and it's almost greenleaf, which is the season I was born in. I think other folk use other words for seasons... greenleaf is when the leaves are green and the sun is hot. Leaf-fall is when they turn orange and fall down, leaf-bare is when there's snow and the trees are bare, and new-leaf is when the snow goes away and the trees start growing new leaves.
no subject
[Firepaw is almost a year old... Technus doesn't know much about cats, so that seems very young to him. If he had to guess, maybe it would be halfway to adulthood? Animals are not a thing he really knows much about.]
I MUST SAY, YOU ARE IMPRESSIVELY COMPETENT FOR ONE SO YOUNG.
no subject
The praise is absolutely appreciated, though, and he straightens up with his ears as far up as they go.]
Thank you - it's really nothing, everyone in Bottlecap Bay looks out for each other.
[That is not correct, Firepaw is just dumbly heroic.]
no subject