peacockstop | TDM 011

【 Thank you for choosing the Golden Peacock, 5-star resort and casino. You are currently registered as a WILDCARD in our system.

We are thrilled to announce that the Golden Peacock will be embracing autumn with a special outing. Current and new guests are invited to join us for a refreshing outdoor experience where participants can unplug, unwind, and connect with nature. During this time, all Watches will be disabled to the most basic functions (texting, calls, checking chip account) in order to encourage guests to disconnect.

Please look forward to two weeks of finding yourself amongst the trees. We hope you enjoy your stay, and have a fan-CAMP-stic time. 】

CAMPING

GETTING OFF THE GRID

As the resort moves into what it claims is autumn, the days grow shorter. The projected sun in the Vale sets in the afternoon, after which a faint chill falls. Then there’s the most excessive transformation of all – a portion of the Vale has transformed into a campground complete with a scenic lake, seemingly overnight. Statues nearby have been dressed up with flannel jackets and suspenders. Folksy banjo fills the air without any discernible source.

A section of the campgrounds have been reserved for tents. These tents vary in size, shape, and supplies. All tents, regardless of quality, are supplied with sex toys and lube. Staff and long-standing guests all agree — pretending to live in the wilderness and 'rough it' for a while is thrilling. This is what the peasants feel like all the time!

NOT ALL TENTS ARE EQUAL ► High-rank guests are allocated spacious and luxurious tents. These elaborate mini-homes come with TVs, beds, heaters, and plenty of supplies. Provided camping gear is high quality, ranging from state of the art flashlights to designer backpacks. It can't quite be considered roughing it in these tents, but glamping is camping too!

► Mid-rank guests are allocated moderate tents that comfortably fit up to three guests. These tents come with cots or sleeping bags, as well as standard camping gear to make their time living off the land fairly comfortable. While these tents lack the bells and whistles of the high-rank accommodations, they are more than enough for a comfortable but realistic camping experience.

► Low-rank guests are allocated the shabbiest tents. These sagging accommodations can shield one guest comfortably, but that doesn't stop staff from pairing low-ranking guests together in order to save space. Their 'sleeping bags' are a single blanket and hay bale pillow. There are no other included amenities aside from sex toys and a single lantern.

► Last but certainly not least: our Wildcards! All Wildcards have been randomly assigned. Whether they end up in a glamping tent or sleeping beneath a propped up sheet is left to chance. Wildcards also may find themselves waking up beside a current guest or another new arrival.

► Guests that "go camping" will discover that the door connecting the Vale to the rest of the resort has mysteriously vanished. Uh oh! Looks like there's no going back to the comfortable life anytime soon. Don't worry, the door will return when it's time to pack up and head home.

LET'S GET CRAFTY ► New characters still wake up naked save for a robe, as is standard for the Golden Peacock. This round’s robes are flannel gingham to embrace camping and autumn aesthetic. Some of these robes are much shorter than others; watch out that the lake breeze doesn’t reveal more than you wanted.

► Unlike the standard, there are no racks of clothes waiting for new arrivals outside of their tents. You're roughing it out in the woods, remember? Instead of clothing, Wildcards will find an assortment of raw materials to make clothes.

Fabric rolls, hemp, buckets of leaves, leather, and other assorted goods are waiting to be cobbled into something new. The staff have been kind enough to leave some small hunting knives and wooden needles to make crafting a bit easier. Of course, they won't stop anyone that wants to embrace the wild side and strut around naked.

HOME ON THE RANGE

Welcome to the Peacock Campgrounds! Nicknamed the Stomping Grounds by long-standing guests. Rustic and right off a sparkling lake, guests will find everything they need to live in the wilderness. Staff have expertly set up fire pits, benches, hammocks, and a wooden shed to act as a tool depository. There's even an outhouse, which is a real novelty to many of the long-standing guests. Do they just... squat over that hole and do their business? How wild!

Unlike previous resort-sponsored excursions, guests are expected to manage without the help of staff. That pile of wood won't be replenished once used; guests will have to go chop down trees and split their own. Food won't magically appear in their tents regardless of rank. Camping is all about living off the land. Though staff make themselves scarce to make the experience feel real, they lurk in the shadows, discreetly providing necessary tools and fixing broken equipment so guests won't struggle too much. It isn't fun if it's real hardship, after all!

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO COOK? ► On the first camp morning, guests will find barrels of ingredients and cooking utensils left beside the central fire pit. These barrels are stocked with fruits and vegetables that won't spoil quickly, many of which are seasonal to autumn. They have also been left a few protein options like eggs, jerky, and canned ham. These ingredients are communal and limited. Once they run out, guests will have to hunt and gather in the Vale to collect more.

► Guests must prepare their own meals while camping. Not even the high-ranks are given any special treatment on this! While oil and firestarter are included in the initial supply, these too are limited and won't be replenished after use.

► Staff would never let their precious guests go without a sweet treat. A generous supply of hot cocoa and all the fixings for s'mores has been left behind as well. While none of the other food will be replenished, the hot cocoa and s'mores goodies seemingly never run out. A night around a campfire without roasting marshmallows or sipping cocoa would be too cruel to subject guests to.

SUPPLIES RUNNING LOW ► Guests will have to hunt and gather once ingredients dwindle if they want to eat. The wooden shed is home to a selection of tools that can be used to hunt: bows and arrows, hatchets, axes, fishing poles and line, etc. All tools are rudimentary and can break if not taken care of.

► The Vale is lush with wild fruits and vegetables. However, much like in reality, not all vegetation in the Vale is safe to eat. While some berries and mushrooms are consumable, others are toxic or psychedelics. One must also not forget that they're in the Golden Peacock: some unusual plants that grow in the vale may trigger arousal. Watch out that you don't eat something funky by accident!

► Before 'leaving', staff will explain that guests can fish or hunt small game running throughout the Vale. One particularly enthusiastic staff member will suggest guests track down the snoggleboffs, as they're extremely delicious after roasting on an open fire.

ACTIVITIES

TWO WEEKS OF ROUGHING IT

Camping can't be all about survival. Where's the fun in that? Before 'leaving', the staff arrange activities and events for guests to enjoy. A wooden bulletin board outlines times for group hikes, camping experiences, and wilderness delights. Adirondack chairs line the edge of the lake and a few tire swings hang over the water, tied to strong tree branches. For the first week and a half the weather is pleasant and sunny. Perfect for camping.

At night, acoustic guitars and other wooden instruments come out so that guests can make music around the bonfire. Projected stars dapple the night sky, forming various constellations sourced from guest worlds. The moon enters a different phase each night, shining a gentle silver across the campgrounds. Why not pull your sweetheart in and cuddle beneath the night sky? It's so romantic.

IN CAMP ► Guests that don't want a cold shower should make their way over to the shower stalls quickly. These outdoor showers hold very little hot water and run cold after about five minutes. First-come first-serve!

► A wood-chopping competition begins around lunchtime. There are two goals: to split as much wood as possible and looking sexy while doing it. Guests that chop wood unsexily immediately fail! Alternatively, sexiness with a pathetic number of chunks is more acceptable, but still a loss. Those that achieve both goals will instantly win a large payout. Failing to sexily cut wood won’t have any penalties associated with it, and you can always try again tomorrow!

► Bear hunting is a popular activity that even the spoiled long-standing guests are getting in on! No, not hunting real bears. That would be insane. Peacock's version of bear hunting involves hunting down bear-like guests and capturing them! Any guest that fits the criteria of big, thick, and strong may potentially be assigned the role of bear. Hunters who manage to tie up, handcuff, net, or otherwise 'capture' a 'bear' will instantly receive a large payout.

THE LAKE ► This sparkling lake is rich with fish. Enjoy sitting back on the long pier with a fishing rod or take one of the wooden boats out for a row around the lake. It's also safe to swim in, for guests that would like to take a dip and rinse off the sweat of camp living! Don't mind the random swim trunks or drink umbrellas that pop up now and then. This water is definitely fresh and not recycled from the summer beach extravaganza.

► Guests that do decide to take a dip may encounter a familiar friend. Fernando the tentacle monster is camping too! This randy tentacle monster is as horny as ever, eager to embrace guests and stick slippery tentacles into any reachable orifice.

► Once the sun goes down, many of the long-standing guests strip off their shoddily crafted clothes and sprint into the water for skinny dipping by moonlight! What's a camping excursion without a lake-side orgy? The best way to drown out those erotic moans from the lake is to head to the central fire pit and join in on some campfire songs.

OUTSIDE CAMP ► Those that head out of camp for a hike or hunt can enjoy any of the Vale's usual wonders. With autumn, shiny apples dangle from the trees and pumpkins pepper beneath their protruding roots. Along with autumnal fruits and vegetables, canned beef and ham have been mysteriously left in pockets close to the campgrounds. A little act of kindness from the staff; not everyone is cut out to hunt their own game!

► For those interested in hunting down some fresh game, walking around the forest in the morning may come with a stroke of luck. Strange little creatures the size of an adult's fist are active during this time. These hairy beasts come in brown and white, and screech, "Scrun scrun screeee!" when agitated.

Yes, these are the alleged snoggleboffs! Don't feel bad about hunting them, they're an invasive species that are unfriendly and eager to steal from unsuspecting guests. Their main strength is their speed, but once caught, they don't put up much of a fight.

► Guests that explore deep into the Vale may find a dark cave mouth that leads downward into a damp chamber. The ceiling glitters with stalactites and, along the wall, they'll find a horizontal crease with what seems to be... hair? If touched, this crease will creak open, revealing a large eye that darts back and forth before focusing on whoever woke it. Black pupils and iris bleed into one endless abyss.

Those that gaze directly into the eye will freeze. Their mind will remain active while their body locks in place, not unlike sleep paralysis. This trance will break once the eye blinks, which it will do after some time... but it can also be forced into blinking by force if there's someone who hasn't made eye-contact around to help. Frozen guests will be overwhelmed with the fear of abandonment for the duration of their paralysis. This fear will fade after the connection is broken, as if it wasn't their fear at all.

Like a regular eye, dirt or debris can force a blink. If this route is taken, the eye will go bloodshot and shut, refusing to open again. Any guest that inflicts damage to the eye may find that their suite, upon return, has been trashed. As if someone or something threw a big tantrum in there while they were gone. Wonder why that happened...?

HOWLING

CALL OF THE WILD

Temperatures drop drastically at night as the camping excursion nears its end. Nights become so chilly that morning dew frosts over, crunching beneath guest feet. Every day the light and its warmth set a little bit earlier. Staff remain elusive and do not provide warmer blankets or clothes for guests, leaving them to cuddle for warmth or find other ways to sleep comfortably during nightly cold snaps.

The moon hits its apex on the final night of camping. Unlike the other nights, this full moon shines blood red. The Vale stills under this ominous sign, silent. Snowflakes begins to fall, spreading an endless clean sheet across the campgrounds. That reflected pink hue is inescapable.

THE WEATHER TURNS ► Along with chilly nights, the last few days of camping feature inclement weather conditions. Clouds overtake the sun and rain falls, alternating between light mist and heavy downpour.

► Winds pick up, with speeds threatening to whip away the less stable tents. Guests that don't hunker down and add additional support to their tents may end up chasing them into the storm. Other loose items around the campgrounds may end up blown away as well.

BLOOD MOON ► Wild instinct rises with the blood moon. As crimson moonlight beckons, some guests may begin to feel ... strange. As if they need to claw their true selves free. Those that answer the call to bathe in the light of the blood moon will undergo a transformation.

► Basking in the light of the blood moon triggers a were-transformation. While the standard were that the blood moon inspires is the classic werewolf, guests may transform into any kind of were. Along with hybrid transformation, the blood moon stirs mating and sex impulses in these new weres. Remaining humans are at risk of being eaten... in the sexy way.

► Transformation into a were is not mandatory. Other guests may step into the blood moon's light and not experience any kind of transformation or impulse. These guests are now actors in a sexy horror scene, given the task of surviving the night surrounded by monsters! At least they're sexy monsters? Giving in and fucking on the wild side may be more fun.

PACKING UP ► After the crazy weather and horny werewolves, the staff judge that it's high time to wrap this excursion up. Guests will once again openly see these diligent workers the morning after the blood moon. They come flooding into the site with clothing, snacks, and other comforts while praising everyone for surviving for so long without the resort's usual luxuries.

► A first aid tent and cleaning station are swiftly erected. All guests that volunteer to treat injuries sustained over the course of the camping experience or help clean up the site will be compensated with a large payout.

► Every guest that participated in the camping event, regardless of whether they help wrap things up, will be issued a spa voucher. Go relax, you've earned some pampering after all of that hard living!

OOC NOTES

INVITES | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS

▶ BLANKET CW: altered states; eyes (descriptions only, incl. eye injury); exhibitionism; hunting (incl. hunting fantasy creatures); orgies; public sex; survival; temperature play; tentacles; transformation; violence

▶ All characters on the TDM are WILDCARDS, which means they have not yet been assigned a card value. Suits will not manifest until characters are accepted into the game.

▶ All TDMs are game canon. This TDM acts as the game's September event. Camping will ICly begin September 15th and end October 3rd.

▶ Current characters may top level on the TDM. Any current characters posting to the TDM should note they are current in their subject header.

▶ The top level directory is for new characters only. We want to make sure new characters are prioritized and receive attention! If you would be interested in a game invitation, you can note that in your comment header.

▶ Smut threads that take place on this TDM can be used for rewards. If both parties in the smut thread join the game, you may retroactively apply the character's initial card values to your 52 bank. If one character does not join the game the thread will not be applicable toward rewards (as that character would not have a card value). The character that does join would still receive a small payout for the encounter. Hopefully it was a fun thread regardless!

▶ We ask you to kindly add content warnings to your threads as appropriate.

▶ If you do not currently have permissions and kinks listed in your character’s journal we suggest leaving a note in your top level of any limits or boundaries for other players to reference.

NAVIGATION • LOG • NETWORK • OOC • MEME

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"One strike... is enough."

The gryphon flies claws-first into the concussive blast of a localized explosion, its molten luminescence bright enough to cast the immediate area in the golden radiance of midday. For one moment, just a second, he can feel it; the searing agony of the Coreflames burning a fresh hollow in him, suppressed during a days-long reprieve, and like clapping shut the door on a furnace, it's gone.

Only a moment, his white hair and blue eyes subsumed by coronal radiance, body cracked and crumbling, blackened by the heat, and a pair of wings silhouetted by the brightness of a newborn sun. The heat poses less of a danger to Sunday than the atmospheric pressure caused by that explosive burst - much like erecting a window before the divebombing of an unwitting bird.

It's too late to stop. Diving at an arc, heavy as he is.

All he sees is an intense, burning light.

He thinks he sees the silhouette of a person, wings cracked, asymmetrical, blazing ever brighter than he's seen, beyond even the brightest stage lights of the Grand Theater. Not a warm one, no - the kind of light that obliterates everything it touches, scorches it into nothing.

He thinks he can smell his feathers burning. He tries not to think, of the searing on skin, before-

The impact hits him faster than anything else, sonic boom as he clatters from the sky like a moth to a flame trap. It isn't a momentous heap of feathers that lands with a shudder, but a much more muted thud. A human body, disrobed as it were, frayed at the edges still. He doesn't - can't - care about the burns he has. Maybe it's a miracle that he's even landed without breaking his neck, amongst other things.

Sunday simply lays on the ground, his head spinning in a thousand directions. The hazy stare of the barest recognition of a stranger.

All he can think about is what he heard, resonating in his mind: How terribly sad, they are.

Phainon's attempt at restraint was not enough; he sees the evidence when the burning light of a sun has faded and his feet touch down on withered grass once more. That agonizing blaze of hundreds of millions of coreflames, emergent, immediate for only a moment, has retreated, leaving a smoking and cracked hollow within.

His exhale gusts from him, pluming in the cold night air, the dregs still bring a heat shimmer as it leaves his lips.

Sunday is given the luxury of whole minutes to wait for his head to stop spinning, for his aches to report in, before Phainon steps into view. The robe knotted about his waist is blackened over much of the flannel, the hem ragged and burnt; the only reason it survived at all was likely because it had been damp from earlier rains. For one moment, he stands, gazing downward in what might initially seem to be indifference.

Then he kneels, seeking to scoop the back of Sunday's head up in the cup of one palm - assuming, that is, that Sunday doesn't rightfully flinch away.

Burnt skin, singed feathers. Surely he feels worse than his physical body is, though he's not exactly cognizant enough to assess the damage report. Whatever's knocked him out of his strange transformation is undue, strange for this fated night, and in the wake of that, all he can see is-

... Squares? Black grids? His vision shakes as he trails, watches the entire Vale burn. He thinks he can smell the smoke, the despair, plinth-like wings spread. The radiant apocalypse, and it heralds the end of times. The black corruption cuts a path straight through, to the disintegrating feet of his attacker. The figure that walks to him has no face, more than the blazing halo'd scarlet of a void star.

( The Harmony echoes: things are not what they seem. )

Blinks, again, once, twice, three times. It takes a minute, two, what feels like an eternity. Blurred vision and thought.

The Vale does not burn. The stranger has a face. But the experience shakes him still, and Sunday tries in vain to jerk his head away. He lacks the strength for it, against this monster-made-man, try as he might. It simply sends another shot of vertigo into his head, and he murmurs, against a strangely warm hand. "What are..."

You?

He’s alive, conscious, that’s good. Lucid, too; that’s even better.

Phainon realizes that there are small wings growing impossibly from the young man’s head, so his fingers navigate them with care on their way to supporting both neck and the curve of the back of his skull.

Warmth radiates from his body, just this side of uncomfortable, and as he lifts Sunday’s head from the ground, his temperature is retreating into a more tolerable range.

Tolerable, that is, if one isn’t already burned.

He pushes his other arm under the man’s knees, carrying him as he rises to his feet. Gold blood patters to the ground around them.

“-I need to cool you down,” is the answer to the question he assumes Sunday asks, and not the one he intends.

The lake shore isn’t far. He soldiers on towards the dark water, slate black in the cloudy, lightless night. The white haired man spares him glances, grimly concerned and regretful in equal measure.

“It’s going to be cold.”

There’s a brief hiss when he steps into the shallow water, wisps of steam rising as he wades in, noisily. It’s freezing; he grits his teeth at the bright sting of his injuries, at the shock of dark, chilling water hitting heated skin. But there’s no other way to stop the progression of a burn.

It’s no use, trying to resist. His captor is strong, and he’s seeing beyond the stars. Even with just a glimpse, it fills his heart with immense trepidation. The depth of being is not something easily grasped, and unwillingly taken, with their presence of the blood moon.

Their heat burns like an open flame does. Sunday tries to flinch out of their grasp, scorched skin tender on a living furnace, like a fever that refuses to be quenched.

They say something. Sunday thinks that’s not what he asked - but all he can see when he looks up is their face - head - replaced by that scarlet halo, staring into the violent void of existence.

It flickers in and out of his sight, to a white-haired youth, to a blonde with sunburnt hair, neck sundered from the rest of his body. The paradox never ends in its shifting sand, always warped by black blocks.

Something incredibly dangerous. But he can’t look away, the psychedelic-rainbow eyes wide, eerily unblinking. Can’t even get away from the strong grasp on him. Despite the violence in his inner nature - still, trying to be gentle.

He doesn’t notice their destination until the frigid waters hit their skin. The wings on his waist jerk as he whines. Oil to a hot pan, he yelps and flinches, trying to struggle in futility. But THEIR face keeps changing.

All he knows is the regret that bleeds out of them, concern, and-

He reaches his hand out, touching feverish skin, on Phainon’s cheek. Uncomfortably hot above the water, maybe it might burn, but still, empathy only demands one toll. It’s all he can do, as a Halovian, watching this THING suffer, almost for an eternity.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’ll be okay-“

Harmonic tuning may not work, an ebb of comfort that tries to bring calm to their shared turmoil; in his own frazzled state, but still, he has to try. Surely, someone was never meant to hold this much suffering, utterly alone.

TDM 011

OOC NOTES

Oh, okay! Sure, you got it

holy shit wth goodbye to the vale WHEEZE

💔 it was just a little burst...

took a little #blacktide liberties with this one..

Holy shit?!!

harmony empathy x staring at khastomb’s freaky ass = brain frying is such a hell