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Indigo_Plateau rolled 1 6-sided dice:
1
Total: 1 (1-6)
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 Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:44 pm
Quote: Space 0: You have arrived here; nothing happens until you roll your die.
He.
Knew.
Better.
Uuuuugh, he knew better, and yet Undine had found himself swallowed up by yet another of the city's tricks! At least he'd been swallowed during a rare bout (or maybe not so rare, these days) of being powered up. Undine was... very slightly better equipped to take on all the travesties he expected was in his extremely immediate future...
Okay, look, this was fine- this was fine.. Of course it wasn't what he wanted to do after working a tiresome shift, where his feet and back already hurt and he felt as drained of energy as if a Negaverse officer had walked right up to him and stolen it from under his nose... But it was just. A game. -or it looked like one, anyone, and God, how he hoped it wasn't any more complicated that that.
And he was alone, so... so hopefully this wasn't some Squid Game a** situation where piles of bodies would start, well, piling up.
Alright, whatever. He was a well-adjusted man who'd been part of this stupid powered business for years now, and he could get through this. He'd gotten through worse (at least he expected this wouldn't be as bad as the end of the world). So let's just stop thinking about it... And make progress. The faster he rolled, the faster he could make his way home to his own kitchen and his own shower and his own bed. Clutching the die in his fist, Undine released a heavy exhale. Let's do this.
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Indigo_Plateau rolled -sided dice:
Total: 0 (-0)
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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:45 pm
Quote: Space 1: You feel eyes upon you, and hear a faint chuckling, like you’re the butt of someone’s joke. It sets a bad mood for the rest of this game; you’re already being judged–and, it looks like a long road ahead.
Well, he wasn't going anywhere fast, but besides being a little disappointing to have to loiter for so long at the very beginning of the game, there didn't seem to be any immediate danger in the first space.
No danger, sure, but the soft rumblings of someone laughing at him still sent a Chill racing up Undine's spine, and he looked around wildly for wherever it was coming from- only to see nothing and no one (why would he be so presumptuous as to think he could see whoever was watching him?). And while he was grateful for not being physically attacked, this did nothing to assuage his fears that maybe this was some kind of Squid Game a** type of play.
There was someone watching, and maybe there were other boards too... Maybe there were people dying...
Just ones he couldn't see.
He had to get out of here.
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Indigo_Plateau rolled 1 6-sided dice:
2
Total: 2 (1-6)
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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:46 pm
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Indigo_Plateau rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-6)
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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:47 pm
Quote: Space 3: A strange fog rolls in once you land here. You lose sight of nearly everything, including the game board. If you want to roll, you’re going to have to get close to the ground to even see where you’re supposed to go next. Hopefully nothing sneaks up behind you.
And yet, despite his wishes, he continued to piddle along at the slowest ******** pace imaginable. Undine chomped the inside of his cheek to keep from making verbal complaint, because if someone was watching, he wanted them to get the least entertaining experience possible. Which seemed easy enough to manage now, but... Well, he didn't know what the situation would be later.
And if he was disappointed that he couldn't see much during his first stop, the second wasn't better- was worse, even (because of course it was).
A fog so dense that it was nearly suffocating rolled in, whiting out his entire vision. Undine wouldn't have appreciated this even on a normal night in the city, and he definitely didn't appreciate it with the thought of someone looking on and laughing at him. Uneasy crawled over his skin, and he feared that there was something more in the fog with him- But he couldn't prove it by sound of sight, so...
So he was banking on clinging to his dignity and not putting on a show.
Just regular, confident steps. Keep it together, keep it together. Do Not Freak Out.
He was going to be okay. Just don't linger too long. Find die. Keep going. Make it to the end (God, he hoped there was an end...), and leave. Simple as that. He could do this. There'd be time for panic later. For now, just quash down all that doubt and fear. Save it for later. He was going to be fine. So Undine still tried not to make a huge terrified display of scrabbling around on the ground looking for his die, but anyone who saw his face would know that it wasn't going well.
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Indigo_Plateau rolled 1 6-sided dice:
5
Total: 5 (1-6)
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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:48 pm
Quote: Space 7: Something is twitching and flapping above you, and while you might be minding your own business, something is a little too invested in what you’re doing. You can’t see them, but you suddenly hear shrill, high pierced noises that are disorienting and confusing. They can bring about dizziness and pain and can cause vertigo if you’re stuck in them for too long.
Getting out of the fog was a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, progress! And progress was how he would make it home (probably)! On the other hand, he was trading relatively harmless effects for the unknown. Voices and fog were intimidating because he didn't know what to expect- But now as he moved on, he still didn't know what to expect, and additionally, it felt like something was physically there next to him.
He'd desperately wanted to maintain his composure to make sure if anyone was watching, they got as little out of the performance as possible, but it was difficult when something was right next to him, flapping about like a large bird, ruffling up his hair and getting tangled in the long strands and pulling when he tried to bat it away.
"Go- go away," he hissed as softly as he could. "Stop that, please."
And though his hand never made contact with anything, the whatever-it-was must have taken severe offense to his actions, because it screamed in a chilling and nearly human-like way that made Undine's skin crawl.
And his head ache and his ears ring, and suddenly all the blood felt like it was draining out of him, and he staggered and-
"Oh, ******** come on. Come on." Grinding his teeth and pinching his eyes shut and covering his ears as best as he could with only one hand, Undine dove for his die on the ground (very dignified), and scrabbled to pick it up and give it a toss, even though he could barely think straight. Getting out was still his only goal. So long as he wasn't turned from that, he could press forward.
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Indigo_Plateau rolled 1 6-sided dice:
2
Total: 2 (1-6)
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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:49 pm
Quote: Space 12: The smell of smoke is in the air. You can’t see what’s burning, but you can hear distant screams, and–carnival music? It feels like people are running past you, and the air fills with panic and alarm–but there’s nowhere for you to go, and the smoke is so thick. You’d better roll quickly so you can get out of here.
He'd managed to leave behind the flappy-bird-thing, but frankly each time the die guided him somewhere new, the situation worsened by a noticeable amount. Undine still wasn't physically injured (which could only be a good thing, and somehow seemed quite improbable), but he was tired from the day, and he felt like even the power up to Undine wasn't enough to chase away the oncoming fatigue...
Which was definitely not due to be improved by where he was now.
Immediately, he smelled smoke, and not in the 'what a delicious barbecue' kind of way, but in the impending tragedy kind of way. The smoke was nearly as bad as the fog, or worse, blinding him and stinging his eyes and throat. There was some kind of... eerie melody in the air, serving as a backdrop to screams of horror, the feel of people rushing past him (...other players in this game...? Was there more that he couldn't see?).
They knocked into him, making him stumble and stagger. And if he tried to reach out to grab someone, to stop them and ask what was going on, where they were going, what had happened- his fingers met with nothing but air, and Undine was relatively certain none of the bodies flying past could see or hear him.
If he was a Knight (which he was), and if he had been given this power for a reason (maybe he was), then surely it should be his task to help people?
Not that that was much his instinctual inclination, but hailing from a watery planet had to mean something if there was a fire, somewhere? Was there a fire somewhere? It was impossible to see. He could only feel its effects and feel the dread of the souls fleeing around him. If there were other trapped people, Undine had no means to access them, and even less means of helping them... But it- it probably wasn't real. Surely it wasn't real. He couldn't see anyone, so it must be an illusion.
An illusion that could batter him and knock him around, and if he hung out too long in, he'd surely be trampled.
He had to roll again.
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Indigo_Plateau rolled 1 6-sided dice:
6
Total: 6 (1-6)
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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:51 pm
Quote: Space 14: The ground is sticky. You land on this and immediately dip, as though you’ve stepped on a trampoline. Close inspection reveals that you are standing on an intricately woven web–and your shoes are stuck. And something is skittering just on the horizon.
He didn't think there was a way to be much worse than what he'd already experienced. Undine considered himself selfish, but that feeling of there being that many people around, who needed help that no one could provide... It just stung in a different way than being in mortal peril, himself.
Still, the second his foot dipped down on some kind of spongy surface, Undine wasn't expecting anything good of it.
He had only to glance down, to see the delicate tendrils of a web woven together that he immediately knew what this was about, and having seen this play out in many a horror drama, Undine was not about to ******** around with some giant spider coming to eat him- He'd barely even had the thought before he heard the skittering. Legs. And a little jitter of the web that wasn't from him. He didn't need to see it! He didn't want to see it! Every instinct was telling him to run fast and hard, but rationally he knew he'd be trapped if he tried.
Thank ******** God for all the movie nights he'd had with friends, because Undine had actually (playfully, not seriously) considered a situation like this before, and it barely took him even a single thought to start tearing shreds off his Knight uniform.
His long sash first, laid out as best he could manage as he toed out of his shoe to step out of it and onto the fabric he'd cast out as a barrier between him and the sticky net. Faster, faster- But he needed to be careful not to get stuck. His tighter waist sash next, not as long, but still a good stepping stone. The translucent frills at his shoulder. Then the layer of opaque ones. The torn-off sleeve of his poofy white shirt. The second one. He'd get ******** naked if he had to- what shame should a person as beautiful as him really have?
For better or worse, that seemed mostly unnecessary. His uniform had enough extraneous layers that he only had to lose frill and sleeve and tassel- and both shoes.
Though by the time he escaped the web, he was also near-delirious and on the verge of throwing up because surely it would be seconds- seconds-! before the spider was on him, and he absolutely couldn't take that, he couldn't! Literally why did it have to be spiders!
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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:52 pm
Quote: Space 20: The end; once you have arrived here you are free to leave. You will see be basked in the glow of a beautiful, opalescent aura that will take you back home. If you arrived with a guest, you can leave without them or choose to stay until they make it to the end as well. When you arrive back in Destiny City, you may choose to keep the six sided die–if nothing else, it’s pretty! Though, it doesn’t seem to have any magical qualities, that might be for the best.
If he wasn't at the end soon, Undine didn't think he'd have anything else to give- all his energy, all his clothes, all his sanity- all that was already gone, and he felt like he'd been struggling here forever. How long could this board game really be?
If a six, a high roll, couldn't see him to the end, he'd have to assume it really was endless, and that anyone who accidentally picked up a random, glossy die in Destiny City was doomed to die here... But he trudged forward at the invisible force's behest, and... and there was a beautiful shimmering portal waiting for him. It was dazzling enough to be evil, but at this point in the night, Undine didn't care if it was or not, so long as it led him out of here.
Winding up back on a familiar street in Destiny City was break enough.
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