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Entry tags:
October 2022 Test Drive Meme
OCTOBER 2022 TDM
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Folkmore's monthly Test Drive Meme! Please feel free to test drive any and all characters regardless of your intent to apply or whether you have an invite or not.
All TDMs are game canon. You can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Each TDM will provide a scenario for how characters arrive in-game that particular month.
Playing TDMs will allow characters to immediately obtain canon items from homes especially weapons or other things they may have had on their person when they were pulled from their worlds! There will always be a prompt that provides some sort of "reward" to characters who complete certain tasks.
Current players are allowed to have in-game characters react to TDMs via the Network or make a log with the prompts. Current players are always encouraged to tag new people on the TDM!
TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.
Content Warnings: Possible insanity via freezing. Temporary nullification of abilities.
COLD AS YOU
KEEP YOUR BRITTLE HEART WARM
COLD AS YOU
You were falling...
The world snaps into place all at once; you are laying on the ground, surrounded on all sides by towering bushes that stretch up towards a beautiful sunset sky. The bushes were clearly flowered at one point, but now the flowers have died and all that remains are browning leaves that are beginning to fall. On the chill air you can sometimes hear the sound of music, too faint to completely determine.
As you stand, you are filled with an intense desire to find someone. You might have an idea of who, but chances are you do not - you just know that somewhere ahead of you is someone that you need to reach. Whether they are friend or lover or enemy remains to be seen.
You wander the maze. If you're the impatient type and you have the ability, you might try to fly out but you will simply be vaulted right back down if you do. Something clearly expects you to play by rules which were never actually explained. As you move through the twisting passages of nature, you will notice that there is a frost creeping along the branches on either side of you. This frost brings a deep chill with it, and it encourages you to move faster, to find that nameless person now now now! If you take a very long time to wander the maze you may very well be on the verge of freezing and half mad with the desire to find someone. If you try to force your way through the bushes, the frost will crawl over your limbs and inspire both the freezing and near madness at once.
When you find your Person, the cold evaporates. The air suddenly feels merely crisp, and the leaves on the bushes seem more vibrant. The two of you now can focus on finding the way out - so much easier now - but any sense of urgency will have passed and you may just walk for hours, talking and sharing things about yourselves.
It is possible to solve the maze alone, but it is much easier (and more pleasant!) with someone else.
KEEP YOUR BRITTLE HEART WARM
When you exit the hedge maze you will find a stunning display of lights: hundreds of candles and lanterns decorate the ground and hang from trees, illuminating a clear path over a gently sloping hill. When you crest the hill you can look down and see a beautiful hot spring sprawled out below. It too is lit up by hundreds of lights, all of them glowing under the late autumn sky as it darkens towards night. There are changing rooms where you can stash your clothes (yes, there are bathing suits for the very shy) and bathing stations to ensure that you are clean before entering.
The water of the springs soothes madness and heals physical injuries or any frostbite that may have been sustained in the maze. It also relaxes you, making you perhaps more likely to open up to anybody else present.
The hot spring is staffed by many mice. They don't speak, but they squeak to one another in such a way that it sounds like they are singing - high lilting chants that seem to promise that everything will be okay. They are happy enough to band together to bring you towels or hot tea. The spring is open 24/7, always with lights to fight the cold and darkness of winter.
Content Warnings: Monster sighting, optional violence.
GLITCH
BAD OMEN
GLITCH
Folkmore has trains and of course the cat bus, but it also has roads, mostly utilized by horses and bicycles. Maybe you're looking for the convivence store, or maybe you just like walking. However it happens, you find yourself on a lonely road at dusk. It is unusually quiet, almost as if the world is holding its breath.
Suddenly you hear the sound of wings. A man-sized creature soars above you, something with huge red glowing eyes. It drops something at your feet: a walkie-talkie. The creature lands some distance away, staring at you, and a thought arises unbidden in your mind:
Help them.
The walkie crackles and you can hear someone speaking, asking if anyone is there. It is another Star Child, brought into this trial as well. They are in danger somewhere nearby; maybe stuck on the edge of a cliff, or trapped on a rope bridge - whatever it is, they need someone else to help them get to safety. If they have any powers, they have been temporarily nullified, but if the rescuer has powers they remain intact. That's where you come in! Using the walkie you must communicate with one another so that the rescuer can reach the person in trouble in time!
But what if you don't make it in time? Or decide that you're not the hero type? Well. The rescue-ee will suffer a terrible fate... for a few seconds. Then the entire world fuzzes and resets, but this time the roles have been reversed. Both parties will remember what has already happened, so if you just ran off into the woods with no intent of helping the first time you miiiight get your just desserts! This process will repeat over and over, people switching sides every time, until someone is finally rescued or the sun rises. Whichever comes first!
If you do succeed at a rescue, you will hear the rustle of huge wings once more. This time you don't see the mysterious creature, but you will find a mystery trunk. Inside you will each find some of your canon clothes and a canon item. Looks like teamwork is rewarded! Nearby, there will also be some unenchanted weapons sticking out of the ground: basic swords, guns, shields, etc.
BAD OMEN
You don't necessarily have to have completed the rescue trial to get some goodies, though! Those aforementioned weapons are scattered all over Folkmore. But if you just go to grab any of them you'd better be prepared to fight; after all, nothing comes for free!
As soon as you have pulled a weapon out of the ground, a tall, man in a black suit and hat will appear from seemingly nowhere and attack you. He has no weapons but he is extremely strong. He's also just really creepy - his face looks like it might be fake, somehow. The only way he can be killed is with a wound to the heart - any other supposedly mortal injury will result in another man in black appearing. It is possible for someone with no combat training to beat these creatures, but they really might appreciate a little help from someone with more experience!
The good news is that they won't mess up your clothes any, as none of these creatures bleed. Because that is totally normal.
Good luck!
1
I know bar that you'd like that probably isn't far. [Now that they've found each other the cold is broken. Heat floods in as if they're standing in a spring day. He blinks and shakes his head a little.]
Damn place is a lot like the fae wild. Tell you on the way out.
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Bwuhh— Vax? When'd you get here?
[ If Vax knows a way out of this maze, and this mess, then Grog is definitely going to follow along. ]
I dunno what happened... I had a dream about a fox...? I think maybe I ate some bad cheese or something.
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The frost has retreated and he’s in no hurry to get out. For one he hasn’t been turned into anything. Or had anything done to him.] I’ve been here for months. Time is really weird here.
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[ So, maybe it wasn't the cheese after all. ]
Oh, so... 'S this where you've been at while I've been in Vasselheim?
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When I first got here, all I could recall is we were about to take down Thordak. Now I recall more. Why? No idea.
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That's not weird, it's freaky. You just all of a sudden remember more?
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On they go, but this time he moves a little more carefully.] Keep an eye out, few traps here.
This whole place is freaky. Vex and I got got turned into tiny red dragons for a bit. It was fun but I really missed my thumbs.
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Little dragons? I would've liked to've seen that! Hey, d'you think somethin' like that'll happen to me? D'you think I could turn into a dragon or sommat?
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But if you were a little dragon. It would be a bear sized one. I was cat sized.
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[ He decides to try that out himself. He stops in his tracks, squinches his eyes shut and balls his hands into fists, repeating the words out loud like a mantra. ]
I wanna be a dragon. I wanna be a drag—ERP!
[ He hiccups a burp and as he does, a shiver overtakes his body and he buckles forward onto his knees. His skin seems to darken and thicken, hardening into scales, as Grog's body reforms itself into that of a black dragon. ]
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He knows familiars have trouble at first. He will go to his grave never telling anyone how panicked Percy looked when he changed.] Well, all I did was step out into the fog.
It wore off. I think you can do it whenever you want. That’s what people who get shapeshifting get. You can try talking just point your head at the ground.
[Don’t acid breath him.]
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This is NOT what he expected to happen!
When he speaks, there's a gravelly quality to his voice, and a definite note of surprise. ]
Did I do it?! Am I for real a dragon??!
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Yeah, you are. A black dragon. Doors won’t know what hit them. [Maybe. Doors and Vox Machina have a poor history together.]
And we don’t need to worry about the hedges. You can burp at them.
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[ Have you ever seen a look of unbridled glee on a black dragon's face, Vax? Normally, it would be a sight that would strike fear in the hearts of anyone who saw it, but on Grog it just looks sort of doofy. ]
I can? Awright, then...
[ He turns and unleashes the biggest, acidy-est belch he's got in him, straight into the side wall of the maze. Acid shoots forth in a sixty foot line, blasting through a dozen rows of the maze, leaving a hole that leads all the way clear through to the outside. ]
Ah—! I did it! I found a way out!
[ The only problem is that the holes left by the acid are only five feet wide, so Grog as he is now is a biiiiiit too big to fit through. ]
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He avoids the still sizzling sides and turns, measuring Grog. Not big enough. He looks behind him and walks far enough down the hedge and marks on the ground the section of hedges that has to go.
Then returns to Grog’s side.] See where I marked it off? That needs to go so you’ll fit.
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[ Grog-the-dragon walks matter of factly over to position himself properly in front of the section of wall that Vax marked off. He clears his throat, then opens his mouth and prepares to belch out another jet of acid...
...Only for nothing to happen.
He coughs and sputters, choking a bit on his spit in a futile effort to cough up some acid.
Looks like someone didn't recharge his breath weapon. ]
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Looks like your breath didn’t come back yet. We can wait it out a bit. The hedges are still being eaten by your last burp.
[The hedges are likely to smolder and be devoured for some time, he thinks. He tries to think back to how it felt to have his fire return.] You feel it when the breath comes back. It’s a bit of a tickle in the throat and chest.
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[ That sounds easy enough. Grog plops down on his haunches to wait out the breath weapon. While he does, he lifts one dragony claw and starts to inspect it, turning his hand over to look at it from all angles. ]
This is really freaky... How long'm I gonna be a dragon for? Is it like with Keyleth, an' it lasts for an hour?
[ A thought occurs to him, his dragon eyes going wide with the sudden realization. ]
AM I A DRUID NOW??!
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I’ve heard you can stay that way as long as you want. [Vax snorts as he considers if he should tell him Percy is one too. Nah.]
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[ Grog sounds a bit sullen. But then, he feels a burbling feeling at the back of his throat, like gas building up for another belch. ]
Ope—! Hang on, get back, I can feel it comin'!
[ He holds the acid belch in until he's sure Vax is out of the splash zone, and then plants all four feet in place where Vax had indicated the section of hedge to be blasted out, and then lets loose with the loudest, most acrid-smelling acid blast any dragon has ever spat out. ]
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A dragon can comfortably get through. Vax watches the edge of one sad hedge continue to be devoured. What a bad way to go. He puts that one of his head and gives Grog’s shoulder a pat.] We’ll figure out how you can shift back. Come on! Let’s get the fuck out of here.
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Alright, you said it!
[ He starts to walk through the tunnel he has formed. It goes... about as well as you would expect someone walking on four legs for the first time would go. Which is to say, not very well at all.
Midway through, he turns to call back to Vax, ] Watch your boots! I think the ground's still a bit acid-y.
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He flaps his wings and flies over the dangerous ground until he gets close enough to Grog. He hovers in place, wings beating at the air.]
But while you get to shapeshift. I get wings all the time.
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Why's that then? You don't normally have wings all the time.
[ Right...? Grog may not know a whole lot but he thinks he knows that much. He's usually pretty observant when it comes to his friends. ]
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Some pretty blue-haired guy I saw my sister talking to had wolf ears and a tail. You seem to escaped that kind of thing.
[He thinks. He peers at him as he flaps closer and rests a hand on Grog’s scaly shoulder.]
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