[IC] The Otherworlds Stories: The Gemini Trials (T3 Chapter #1)

[Infamous Empath]

You (@gathering gloom) slowly wake up on your back in an unfamiliar, alien environment. By that I mean, you don't ever recall seeing this field before. In fact, you don't remember how you left the last place you were, when you went to sleep...whenever that was. You gradually come to, seeing the bright blue sky, not a cloud in sight, and feeling the moist lush grass beneath your hands. As you look around, attempting to keep calm and not freak out, you realize two things, almost simultaneously: you do not seem to be having any heightened emotions such as fear or anxiety; and there is another individual lying in the field, a few meters away. But before you can take in their alien appearance, your hear an ever-so-light whisper. In fact, it's such a small voice, you ignore it at first. But then it becomes impossible to ignore as the voice begins screaming inside your head.

"Get out of my mind!" the personality shouts at you.

Sitting there in the grass, you realize you are possessing someone. You look down to investigate your body, but you can't make out heads or tails of it. Like the other person, this body seems to be of an unknown origin. The flesh has a light glow to it, and the skin cells seem to be much larger, almost like scales. After closer inspection you realize that it is the cells that are emitting the evanescence. Your skin seems pale, but it's difficult to discern the actual color due to the light. You gaze down at your hands; there doesn't seem to be anything amiss about them, aside from the skin. In fact, is this even skin?

You take a deep breath, and notice that breathing seems to be a lot easier in this environment. You might also notice some other things, if your perception is high enough...

You may choose to do anything. However, before you do anything, roll a d20 for a perception check. If you do not have one, there are several options, including virtual dice on apps and this site.

The voice in your head, rather the original occupant, does not want you to be here, and suggests that you immediately vacate their body and mind. Since you do not know how to do that, and the other personality quickly figures this out, they suggest you remain calm, and investigate Anani, who you can easily determine - by the fact that nobody else is here - must be the other person, who seems to be unconscious.

However, if you wish to flee the area, or do nothing, or even something completely random, you may do that as well. No matter what you choose to do after you roll a perception check, you make the decision and allow me to describe the outcome.

[gathering gloom]

Rolled a 15 perception check

Well, this is crazy. But as I've spent years playing one too many RPG games online I decide to try and take the voice in my head as almost a tutorial. And since it's their body I'm going to take it on faith that they aren't trying to get them/us killed, so...that's something. So I check on Anani.

(Hope this was long enough-- I've got no standards for online, so tell me if there is more needed)

[Infamous Empath]

@gathering gloom

As you close the distance between yourself and Anani, you notice that she is indeed a feminine character. Though she seems to be unconscious, her scale-like skin cells continue to illuminate as normal. So clearly, it has nothing to do with the beings' physical health or state of consciousness.

Anani appears to be wearing a long, layered and very beautifully colored dress, which goes down to her ankles. Her similarly colored and layered top is more flowing, as opposed to the form-fitting bottom. Since she is on her stomach and her long glistening black hair is strewn about her head, you cannot immediately make out her face until you move to the other side of her.

Moving toward her, the calming affect that this atmosphere has almost seems to be constantly correcting overly negative emotions, rather than suppressing them completely. So for example, you may still become nervous, but right before a panic attack hits, the feeling would subside.

While investigating the sleeping beauty, you hear something in the woods surrounding the field of tall grass. It is about now that you realize your five senses are heightened. You peer deeply into the woods and notice a large black bear eating berries. If you focus for a second, you can hear him munching on them, despite the fact he is nearly a quarter of a mile away.

Returning your attention back to the woman, you see her eyes have opened. She smiles when she sees you. "Gadares. What's going on?" Her tone is fully of curiosity and delight.

However, your advanced hearing picks up another sound, and before you can reply, a rattlesnake slithers toward the two of you, almost hidden in the grass. It's about 4 feet away.

[Infamous Empath]

You wake up from the last time you slept before getting on RPGuild, but instead of waking up in your bed like usual, you awaken inside Anani's mind and body, seeing, hearing, feeling, and smelling everything that she does. Unlike the visiting human being within Gadares' body, Anani is already awake when it happens, so she perceives your presence in her head almost instantly, however, she is not completely aware of you; she is merely intrigued about this new sensation of vague emotions and memories and dreams that she cannot quite grasp, like attempting to hold onto smoke.

Glancing slightly away from the form of Gadares, Anani seems to ignore both him and the rattler slithering toward them as she internally investigates the visiting entity. Anani does not speak outwardly about this to the person she believes is Gadares.

And she does not inwardly speak to the entity within her mind. She merely observes as he or she tries to come to terms with this new experience. Anani continues to struggle to comprehend what is going on within her.

@Zanavy, YOU (not a fictional character) have been placed in the mind of Anani, however, you must consciously take control of her body. Once you do this, she will be completely aware of your presence. She will not be able to read your inward thoughts, only respond to your dialogue to her. If you choose, you may remain "hidden" and wait for a better opportunity to take control of her body. She will know something is going on, but not that she is possessed by your consciousness.

You may also roll a d20 for perception check. Tell me what you got in quote (keeping OOC in the OOC section), along with your IC decision (not in quote) and I will tell you what you perceive, and how your decision to remain anonymous within Anani's body, or take control, affect the events that unfold next...

[Zanavy]

A hundred startling things flooded Zanavy's consciousness all at once. Somehow she was sitting up... in a random field... wearing clothes that did not feel remotely like pajama pants. Faint smells she couldn't describe wafted through the air, and somehow the grass seemed to be a shade of green different from any she had seen before.

None of this held a candle to the being before her eyes, though. A man with glowing skin... maybe an angel? An alien? A hallucination? Whatever it was, he was kinda freaking Zanavy out. But... not in a 'run away and scream bloody murder' way, like she figured she would be likely to react to an otherworldly being. Maybe it was all the movies and LARPing desensitizing her or something, but she felt more curious about this creature than afraid.

"Hello?" Zanavy attempted to say. "Who are you? What is this place?"

Only then did Zanavy realize with another brief moment of shock that her skin was also radiating a pale glow.

Perception: 17

[gathering gloom]

Shit. Shit shit shit. That semester I spent in Arizona and that stupid TA lecture about snakes is starting to come back to me and boy do I wish I had paid more attention. Still a childhood of watching Steve Irwin hasn't been wasted, so I try to be as still as possible and only spend a few seconds cursing te fact that I glow in the dark.

And of course now the woman is moving. I can understand her, which means she either speaks English or the voice in my head (who is probably not my conscience) is translating for me.

"Hey, stop moving. Don't freak out, don't move, there is a big ass and poisonous snake right there."

[Infamous Empath]

@gathering gloom
@Zanavy

Anani took a backseat to Zanavy as she took over her body. "Whoa..." However, she was not afraid or upset, merely curious and intrigued, unlike Gadares.

Through the senses of her host, Zavany not only recognized that everything was more saturated in magnificent color, but the atmosphere was different to what she was used to as well. The gravity was lighter and there was more oxygen in the air; each breath felt like an intake of expanding light.

"Hello?" Zanavy attempted to say. "Who are you? What is this place?"

After noticing her own glowing skin, she also spotted the snake crawling toward them. Although Gadares was not very forthcoming, Anani was very helpful to Zanavy.

So Anani spoke to Zanavy in her mind...

Of course, thought is faster than verbal speech. So even though the other visitor replied a mere couple seconds later, Anani was able to give her that information before the form of Gadares did: "Hey, stop moving. Don't freak out, don't move, there is a big ass and poisonous snake right there."

Gadares' physical form was muscular and toned, as well as tanned. He wore a white robe over beige and brown leather-like armor, but neither he nor Anani wore anything on their feet. His eyes were hazel and his dark brown hair cut short. Short facial stubble surrounded his jowl.

To the visitor, Gadares wondered, "'Big ass'? You are confused! There is no donkey out here!"

The calming effect of the foreign realm continues to dampen the fears and elevated emotions until both visitors feel at peace, even with the snake now only two feet away. The snake halts and looks around, flickering its tongue out.

Suddenly there is a voice from the woods: "Gadares! Anani!"

[Zanavy]

Zanavy's muscles... if she could call them hers ... momentarily tensed at the bizarre sensation of strong, alien thoughts going through her mind at the same time as her own familiar thoughts.

Taken over a body? she wondered to herself. I must be dreaming or a ghost. I hope I'm dreaming.

The second mind told her not to fear the rattlesnake. The glowing man told her not to move. Her own mind told her to run away... maybe... well, maybe that was a bit of an overreaction. Zanavy gave the glowing man a brief nod of thanks and then decided to split the difference by sitting still and watching the snake closely, waiting to see what it would do next.

As she traced the pattern of its rough brown scales with her eyes, Zanavy thought about trying to communicate with this other mind. She imagined herself talking to her own skull and tried to really focus on a few sentences. All these new sights and sounds, along with a surprisingly chill emotion, made it a little difficult for her to concentrate.

"Gadares! Anani!"

Another voice called out right as Zanavy finished a question. She curiously glanced toward the sound, but not with intent or recognition, as she didn't know her host's name.

[Infamous Empath]

@Zanavy
A young boy with shoulder-length curly brown hair skipped - that's right, he skipped - across the field toward them. Distracting them, the boy, who did not look any older than 12 or 13 years old, joyfully bounced toward them. The rattlesnake slithered away into the tall grass and out of sight. As the boy came to within a dozen feet, he stopped, and did not seem at all taxed by the physical activity; in fact, due to the low gravity, he had bounced higher than you would have thought normal, and actually appeared to be feeling even more energetic than when he'd started jogging toward them.

Like yourself, he glowed as well. However, in addition to his pure white robe, he also wore a small crown on his head, made of silver and bronze. Clearly he was royalty.

To discern more about his appearance, roll for perception, and then roll again for insight into his intent and motivations.