folkooc | October 2022 Test Drive Meme

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*tdm

October 2022 Test Drive Meme

OCTOBER 2022 TDM

INTRODUCTION

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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.

[ Prompt One ★ Prompt Two]

SHINING

Content Warnings: Possible insanity via freezing. Temporary nullification of abilities.

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.

HIGH STRANGENESS

Content Warnings: Monster sighting, optional violence.

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ah, well, perfect then! Jaskier doesn't exactly breathe a sigh of relief, but he might as well with the revelation that she isn't poised to make herself a rival composer. He'd hate to find himself disliking her and the pair of them at odds with one another so quickly. Then again, there could be some fun in that, too, he supposes. If it weren't all that serious of a competition that is. A more friendly rivalry than what he shares with Valdo Marx would give him a bit of motivation given that his latest muse does not appear to be here.]

Well then, I suppose I had best not rest on my laurels even in the absence of my lute, hm? [he says with a playful wink.] Such talent running in a family puts you at quite the advantage even after all my years of schooling.

[She frowns a little, looking him up and down, trying to see any hint of laurel. It's a pungent sort of leaf. Surely, she would have smelled it.

Sadly, Ariadne's deft ability with music does not translate to her ability to understand figures of speech.

They're kind of her greatest weakness.]

I'm not sure now is the time to rest at all, sir.

[A pause.]

Um...what should I call you?

[Still so freshly out of his studies and certainly perceived more boy than man as a consequence, Jaskier has a difficult time not nearly bursting into a bit of laughter as she calls him "sir." "Sir" speaks to a degree of maturity and decorum that Jaskier isn't incapable of, but has yet to particularly adopt and may very well never much to the chagrin of those who've instructed him otherwise. But he tamps down on that reaction to avoid making her feel as though he is laughing at her.]

Oh, forgive me! It would appear when faced with such a vision as yourself all my manners have fled. I am Jaskier.

It is so wonderful that we've had the opportunity to meet...

[Jaskier trails off intentionally, creating space for her to supply her own name in return.]

Airy. Well, actually, my name is "Ariadne," but no one here really calls me that. So it's just "Airy."

[A nickname that suits her. There's a lightness, an airiness to her countenance. And it's more than her voice, more than her disposition. It's the way she moves too. As though gravity is just barely holding onto her. It's as though, any moment, she might spread wings and fly away like some kind of bird.

Which, of course, is a possibility. Although she's already tried that to get out of the maze and it didn't work.

At any rate, she reaches forward, putting a hand on his arm.]

And I can assure you, I'm not a vision of any sort. I'm perfectly real. Although...

[She sucks in air between her teeth.]

Visions have been known to happen here. It's one of the ways that Thirteen likes to test us.

[Okay, Jaskier has met his maximum limits of suppressing laughter. When she takes his words literally and puts a hand on his arm almost as proof she is indeed real, he can't hold back the giggle that emerges. It's simply too endearing and enough that her follow-up about tests and whatnot to really sink in. At least not as much as it probably should.]

Then perhaps we ought to take your advice not to rest here and begin to find the way out, [he says with a tone that settles far closer to playful than anything particularly serious. Yet despite the way he regards the notion of a test without the sort of attention it likely merits, Jaskier still places a reassuring hand over hers on his arm as he glances at their options.] The way I came certainly isn't it and neither is yours, so that narrows it down a bit.

[She can't quite figure out what's so funny. Is it her name? Is her name strange? Perhaps it means something in his culture? Alastrians live in terror of nominative determinism, which is why "Ariadne" translates to nothing at all. But maybe his world is different somehow. Even if he looks like he'd fit in, joining the courtiers of the Valerian palace.

Probably not important. People have the odd habit of laughing around Ariadne almost all the time. Especially Lorna, for some reason. She's not going to let it bother her. At least, not right now.

So she turns to look the way neither of them arrived.]

I suppose it's a start. Someone once told me the trick to these sorts of mazes was to always keep one hand on the wall. And eventually, you'll--

[She puts her hand on the hedge and is surprised when it shakes a bit of water free. Her entire hand is slick.]

Is it...warmer than before?

Seems to be, doesn't it? [Jaskier asks faintly as he squints up at the nearest bush looming over them. The sky is getting increasingly darker as the sun continues its descent, but rather than intensifying the ice, it seems to be rather quickly fading.] Small graces, I suppose.

[Jaskier's not going to question it all that much in the end given that he has significantly fewer complaints with something above freezing like before. He looks to Ariadne.]

But probably best also not taken for granted. [He nods his head in the direction that seems available to them both.] Shall we?

I'll take point.

[And with a somewhat carefree smile, she turns around, trotting out a few paces in front of him, her long braid swishing behind her like a happy puppy's tail.

She's not carefree, of course. She's quite careful, actually.

But in Ariadne's experience, it does no good to alarm someone you're trying to protect.

Anyway, with Thirteen, there could be monsters waiting at the end of the maze. Or there could be a ballroom and swirling silks. Only one way to find out.]

[Jaskier allows her the couple of paces ahead, following along behind her without any sort of reservations. he doesn't really know if she's all that qualified to be taking the lead necessarily, but she certainly is more so than he is in any case (by virtue of having any idea of how to navigate the maze in the first place) and that's good enough reason to place his trust in her to get them out.]

So, how long have you been her exactly? Not the maze, I mean... [He gestures with a hand to their surroundings, but clearly means beyond this maze. He just lacks a succinct term for it.] Well, you know what I mean.

About five months.

[Not "about." Exactly. She's very precise when it comes to keeping track of these sorts of things.]

Before that, I was in the North Palace of Valeria.

[There's a slightly hopeful tone. Maybe he'll recognize it. Maybe he'll be the first person she's encountered from her world. The odds are probably against it, but she can't help but fish. A little bit.]

I'm apprenticed to the court translator of Princess Amanda Harkin.

[A name that is known throughout the realm. If he doesn't know her, he's not from her world at all.]

[There isn't a single look of recognition in Jaskier's expression at any of the names she gives, but his eyebrows do raise at her mention of an apprenticeship. It sounds like the sort of position that Jaskier would only know his peers—the other children of the nobility in each kingdom—would ever have the privilege to claim as their own. And yet, she said she was not a lady earlier. Jaskier's confusion doesn't stem necessarily from the idea that she was somehow underqualified or incompetent and undeserving of the position so much as it seemed unlikely that any of a more common birth would ever be allowed to perform such an important duty.]

That sounds quite the honor. You must have worked quite hard to secure that apprenticeship.

[The truth of the matter is that she didn't have to work for it at all. Mostly because it's only a cover for her true work, spying and stealing for Aunt Lysia's resistance. Of which Princess Amanda is fully aware.

Ariadne's still getting used to the idea of not having to lie. And she's started to get more open about what she is, who she is.

But, in her experience, people don't like spies or thieves. Even less than Alastrians, apparently. So that part has remained her secret.]

Well, I was born with a gift for language. I can speak all thirty-five languages in the realm. Thirty-six, if you count Hand Speak. Also, I can read and write in both Common and Elvish.

[That last part is a point of particular pride, setting her apart from her brothers and sisters.

Still, she doesn't speak out of pride. Mostly matter-of-fact. She isn't the type to boast.]

Thirty... [Jaskier's eyes go wide as he trails off. Although he's certainly talented in Common as one would anticipate with a bard, Jaskier could not say he had any sort of knack for other languages. He understood the importance, of course. Much could and would be lost without the understanding of someone else's tongue both in the day-to-day experience and in retaining history. But learning Elder was more an expectation than a passion for most everyone among the upper echelons of human society as it allowed for a simple way of demonstrating wealth and good breeding as far as education and intelligence were concerned. (A bit ironic when considering the overall opinion of the elves, too, but if that were not the epitome of the aristocracy...) Jaskier's fluency is only what he'd consider passable at best. He couldn't imagine managing that many languages all at once.] Thirty-six!? And yet you've had time to learn an instrument amid all that?

[She turns around to walk backwards. A bit of a gamble, considering where they are and what they're doing, but so far, Ariadne hasn't actually picked up any signs of life.

Other than her very, very lively companion, of course.]

Music and language are more or less the same, if you think about it. It's just a matter of patterns. Sounds that convey meaning. And sometimes emotion.

[Wisely, she decides to face forward again, stopping herself from walking into a hedge. Which would be any number of levels of embarrassing. As it is, she has to stop short, trying to make it as casual as possible, before taking a turn.]

In a way, it's sort of sad that this place translates everything for us. You should hear some of the languages I know in their natural state. They're a bit like singing.

Then again, I think it's probably lucky we all understand one another.

[Fortunately for Ariadne, if she had been in danger of walking into anything, Jaskier absolutely would have warned her or otherwise tried to spare her the embarrassment. But she manages it just fine and faces around the right way before he can say or do anything, and so he says nothing of it even as her casualness is a little feigned.]

That's certainly much better, [Jaskier agrees with a nod.] There's probably already enough room for misunderstandings without bringing a language barrier into it.

But it is a shame. I would've liked to hear you speak all those languages. [Crooking a grin at her, he continues,] But I suppose I shall have to settle to perhaps one day hearing you sing.

[Although he very clearly doesn't think that's any amount of settling for anything. Her speaking voice alone is lovely enough that he can easily imagine what it would sound when she sings. Especially given that there's no doubt she's had at least some training in it, informally or formally given her father's passion for music as well.]

Well, if we're stuck in here much longer, that may come soon. I'll have to start praying to Thirteen for guidance.

[Again, she's rather matter-of-fact when it comes to the presence of gods. She knows Thirteen is here. She believes in her power. And when she's in doubt, she resorts to prayer.

The thing of it is, all of Ariadne's earlier doubts feel oddly subdued right now. Ever since she's encountered this stranger she feels calmer. Relieved. Like a pressure has been taken off of her.]

I recited a verse to her once when my friend and Varen and I were trapped in a...well, it was some kind of manor house that was haunted by spirits. Varen nearly fell into a pit, but then Thirteen sent a rescue.

A giant snake, if you can believe it.

[Jaskier snorts a little at that. It's not out of real amusement though because if Jaskier contended with a giant snake right this moment, he'd rather continue wandering. Helpful or not, a giant snake is a giant snake.]

Thirteen couldn't have chosen something a bit less...scaly?

[Scaly or scary? In this instance, it certainly feels interchangeable.]

[She shrugs, genuinely puzzling it out for a few seconds...]

Well, some people do call her 'the Fox.' I suppose a fox would have been a more logical choice.

Although I don't think gods are usually concerned with logic.

[They tend to be a bit more about faith.]

Do you have them, where you come from?

Foxes?

[Jaskier is stalling a bit, admittedly. He's not so dense as to not truly know she means to ask if gods are real where he's from or not. But Jaskier hesitates to provide an answer because it never goes particularly well when one denies the existence of a deity to one so seemingly pious as her. It always leads to a much larger debate and one that Jaskier doesn't feel equipped for even when he isn't one to outright deny their existence so much as...not exactly blindly believe in them either. It's much like Destiny to him in that regard. The possibility of it isn't completely erased, but he remains on the fence.]

Oh, no. I apologize.

[Because she takes his question at face value. Or, at least, gives the appearance of doing so.

Ariadne is far too polite to call a stranger out for lying, after all.

She looks back, over her shoulder at him, the very face of concern.]

I mean gods and goddesses. Some worlds have them, some don't. And in others, they're not entirely sure.

[Jaskier doesn't exactly breathe a sigh of relief, but it was a relief to hear her not speak with any sort of disdain for the alternatives.]

Oh, well, I suppose my world would fall into that last category of those choices. I'm sure those that worship and live in the temples would no doubt would speak at length of all the evidence they have of the gods and their existence, but there are plenty of others who would say otherwise.

And in the absence of any definitive proof... [Jaskier waves a hand slightly to indicate the conclusion he began with rather than repeating himself.] I assume they are quite real in yours then?

[Carefully, Jaskier doesn't indicate anything that would suggest he's limiting it to just her perspective rather than the reality of her world. He can only imagine such a qualifying statement would only serve to offend her.]

[She took him at face value, nodding slightly.]

Quite real, yes. Although most of them are a bit remote. I've only ever met one. The goddess of beauty. She walks the halls of Princess Amanda's palace like any other courtier, most of the time. And both of her children are...

[How to put it? Ariadne sees no reason to hide the rebellion against the Red Dragon. No one here has even heard of Valeria, much less its greatest threat. Still. Old habits.]

...are of great interest to many of the senior courtiers.

[She makes a vague gesture around the maze.]

It's different here, though. They only have one goddess. Thirteen. But she wears a lot of different faces. And you never know which one you're going to encounter.

[Although certainly attentive as she describes the goddess of beauty she's encountered, Jaskier really only perks up as Ariadne describes Thirteen. What he lacks in piety, Jaskier certainly makes up for in curiosity for the world around him. The deities of Ariadne's world are too far away to mean much to Jaskier relative to Thirteen.]

And when you say different faces...? Do you mean it as Melitele is supposed to be Maiden, Mother, and Crone all at once, or are you speaking a bit more concretely than that?

[She pauses for a moment in her stride.]

I...I don't know Melitele, exactly. So I can't really say for sure.

Thirteen is...well, so far, from what I've gathered from others, Thirteen has what they call "iterations." Five of them.

[Ariadne ticks them off on her fingers.]

Kuma Lisa, Thoth, Amrita, Baba Yaga, and Agrona. Similar features, but different in every other way.

[His brow furrows in mild confusion as he holds his hands up slightly in a halting motion.]

Hang on, she calls herself Thirteen, but only has five iterations. [Jaskier shakes his head a little in disbelief.] Mathematics was never perhaps my strong suit in school, but shouldn't there be eight more? Do they just not exist? Or is she hiding them? Did she get rid of them? Ooh, or did they just get sick of it and walk off on their own? Make their own little worlds and call themselves One if they're on their own or became all the way up to Eight if they banded together?

[It would probably help Ariadne in answering his questions if he left any space for her to answer. But Jaskier's curiosity paired with his imagination is a force unto itself and he can't exactly help what comes spilling out or how quickly it does.]

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