Castle of a Thousand Illusions [Private Plot]

[cityship]

[This is for Team 1: Lash, Zetta, Martha, Howard, Doctor, Chell, Doc, Sumeragi. The first shore leave / observation deck post is here where they can say goodbye to others.]

As they arrived and landed, there was just a small track of land with one large wooden boat. A man, clothed in black, ushered them in. He didn't answer anything, in fact from the way he squeaked from rust, it was easily to see he was mechanical. Even the water didn't look that deep until near the end, as what looked like sharks swam around them menacingly before disappearing abruptly as they arrived in the middle of a black obsidian castle. The landing wasn't gentle, and everyone was pushed against each other, as the boat lifted itself up and dropped them all together on top of stacks of hay.

There were two rooms leading out. One had carved in "YOUNDER MALE OR WHATEVER SPECIES" and the other "YOUNDER DEM BEAUTIES". Inside, each would find leather outfits, and white underwear so there would be no chaffing. They could use their plantsuits for that too. Soft moccasins for their feet too with a note that while it was not era-perfect, they figured they would appreciate not having too many bruises on their feet (at least for now). The leather was pretty fresh from the smell and looked to have been made just the right size for each person too.

Kinda really creepy when you thought about it.

But that wasn't the worst of it, oh no. The doors would not open until everyone was fully clothed. For those that still refused, ghostly white hands came out of the walls and did the deed for them, removing all weapons and putting them in the appropriate attire before giving a thumbs up and disappearing again.

As the second door opened, with a red glowing orb turning green, they could see many doors leading around twisting, moving stairs that somehow didn't quite seem possible.

The sound of a gong going off somewhere. Again. Three times. Suddenly the weather shifted to sunset (and never changed) and one could swear those ghost hands were now throwing plastic seagulls in the air, as they mostly flew for a few seconds and crashed into the walls. Seawater was blasted off from tiny little spray bottles.

A large scroll appeared, dusted itself sending dust bunnies flying into the air and unwounded before them.

ATTENTION CONTESTANTS! WELCOME YE FAIR OF MIND AND BODY, TO THE GREATEST PHYSICAL CHALLENGE IN ALL THE UNIVERSE!

After what sounded like someone thinking about it, coughing, a few more words appeared.

PLEASE HOLD ON WHILE YOUR HOST GREETS YOU, IN JUST A FEW MINUTES. THIS IS OUR PLAN, WHICH WE ARE TELLING YOU, THE CONTESTANTS.

Comments

[indeliblepast]

This whole thing felt like being stuck in some godawful amusement park relic from a century or two ago. Both in the cheesy setting and the state of disuse - though the sharks near the end looked disturbingly real.

The sign also got an unimpressed raised eyebrow from her - seriously? - but she filed in nonetheless. Huh. New clothes. She put on the leather outfit - kinda swank, at least, over her plantsuit, and the replaced her uniform jacket on top, stuffing the clean underwear into an inside pocket. She needed something other than creepy plant matter to wear sometime.

[makeherblue]

Unlike some people, the Doctor didn't quite need ghost hands to get changed into their new clothes - frankly, he could do with a change of clothes and while there was a depressing lack of proper hats, the rest of it was surprisingly comfy, ignoring the odd fact they knew his size down to the shoes. He pulled at the white leather as he glanced over at that almost ginger he'd met back on the Obs Deck.

"More sharks!" the Doctor chimed up next to Sumeragi. He peered at them as if expecting them to start flying -- given his experience, it wasn't that impossible. He fidgeted next to her, pulling at the cuffs of his white outfit and looking horribly out of place in it. "And a monologue right from the start! They're very traditional, wouldn't you say?"

He turned to glance over at Sumeragi, as if taking in her mental state even as he talked. You sometimes had to check with humans. Throw a few sharks and disembodied voices at them and sometimes they didn't, well, take to it very well.

[indeliblepast]

Oh bother. He was still here. And still manic. Though at least her headache had eased off a little on the trip, so she couldn't bring herself to be quite so annoyed. Particularly because, well, a lot of things seemed more reasonable after Lash's hissy fit in the dressing rooms.

"Very," she replied. "It's like something out of a particularly torrid mystery novel or something."

[makeherblue]

Of course he was still there - him, missing out on a world like this, which was even more exciting than he expected?

The Doctor mouthed "torrid mystery novel?" to himself silently, trying out the words for size. It sounded loads less interesting than the sharks or the gongs or the impossibly fast change to sunset. Just what kind of mystery novels was Sumeragi reading? If they could compete with this, he decided right then and there that he'd have to ask her after this what these books were called.

"So! Physical challenges. Running, you think?" the Doctor clasped his hands together, sounding bizarrely hopeful. Running, he could do running. New legs like these and centuries of practice running down corridors.

[indeliblepast]

Torrid spy novels, maybe? She wasn't really sure, she didn't actually read books all that often. Regardless. The whole thing seemed like one giant cliche. Sharks and all.

The chipper voice interrupted that somewhat meandering train of thought. She blinked, and her brain caught up with what she heard. "Mm, running seems a bit simple... though I guess it's not off the list. Hard to say when we haven't seen any of the challenges."

[makeherblue]

The Doctor hmm'ed to himself, his fingers lacing together in front of him as he glanced around at their little waiting area. Waiting area thing. "Curious there's people here. Considering Stacy was convinced this place was as good as unexplored."

This was looking decidedly explored, in his opinion.

[indeliblepast]

That was... an excellent thought. She pursed her lips slightly. "That means... either than can fool sensors, none of this is actual real, or the ship just hates us."

She was rather leaning towards that last option today, though if it was the first one... well, she'd be very interested in knowing how they did that.