October 2022 Test Drive Meme

[folkie]

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!

Comments

[shikanoinheizou]

[A soft snort puffs out of him followed by a lazy grin.]

No, that's not too much of a concern. Hey, maybe it if happens, I'll get hearing good enough to be able to listen to the wind the way you do.

[Something he has always envied a little about Kazuha. His uncanny ability to read nature in the way that Heizou could read the tiniest clue has always been something the detective has slightly coveted... and part of the reason he was always trying to 'arrest' him. Between the two of them, they had some of the best analytical ability in Inazuma.]

It's more... Hmm... Would you think I was crazy if I told you this isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened to me?

[mapleleaves]

( Kazuha listens intently to Heizou - although just moments ago, he felt as though he could fall asleep in the calming hold of the spring water. but the question that the other man asks makes him awaken with interest. )

Crazy? ( he shakes his head. ) Not at all. You are not the first person I have met who travelled from one world to the next.

( their beloved traveller friend being one of them. )

Although I suppose I am a little but surprised. This was something I did not detect on you.

[shikanoinheizou]

I don't know if it's something that you would be able to, even with your fine senses.

[Any scent he might have picked up while trapped in Jigoku-cho has long since been washed off by the bath he's been soaking in, and he's been wandering around here for long enough as well. Heizou lowers his eyes, his brow furrowing softly in thought as he wonders how he might explain.]

I was only there a matter of weeks before I dreamed of the Fox, and then I was here. I don't understand it myself, but I think it's going to be the kind of mystery that I might not be able to solve. [And how he hates to admit that, when his talent and aptitude for investigation had been the very thing that had reduced the Tenryou Commission's cold case pile to nothing. He sighs.]

How vexing.

[mapleleaves]

Hmm ... that is most unfortunate.

( poor Heizou. for what Kazuha knows about the other's love of solving mysteries, it is bound to be disheartening to have what seems like a dead end in the case. yet ... Kazuha being Kazuha, he can't help but offer some optimism. )

Perhaps this is not the end of the line, as far as your mystery goes. Maybe further truths or trails will grant you answers about where you were, and why you are now here. You might even cross paths with someone who you previously met in your former realm. ( he removes a fallen leaf from his hair, studying it before he extends his palm and allows the wind to carry it away. ) ... Where we go and who we meet ... all tie together one way or another. And I hope you find what you are looking for.

[shikanoinheizou]

[The optimism isn't unwanted, but Kazuha hits the nail on the head with far more accuracy that even he likely realises. There is one person in particular that Heizou's mind goes to when the possibility of seeing people from that other place is mentioned and the detective immediately ducks himself down to nose-level in the water as his expression shifts.

He blows a few bubbles before he lifts his head up again.]

Oh, I don't know about any of that, old chap. [Heizou's voice is light, but there's something forced about it.] But this does seem like the start of the kind of adventure I don't mind being on. And I'm grateful to have already have a friend along with me.

[mapleleaves]

( what an interesting reaction. it definitely doesn't make Kazuha suspicious!! )

Oh, you have a friend here with you? ( unless Heizou was referring to himself, but given his reaction just now ... that's not what he's assuming! )

[shikanoinheizou]

[No, there is nothing at all suspicious about this and he isn't missing the person he's talking about at all, nor is said missing him consuming at least half of Heizou's thoughts at all times.

Nothing to see here.

But Kazuha's question pulls him off his current train of thought at least as he looks at the other man with incredulous confusion and then sweeps a hand across the surface of the water to splash him right in the face.]

You, you fool.

[mapleleaves]

( hehe! oops. he shields himself to hide from the spray of water. )

My mistake. I was under the impression that you were joined by another. ( Kazuha readjusts some of his fringe from where the water droplets clung to it. ) I am glad to be here with you as well. We are not the only ones from Teyvat either, as I have seen. The traveller is also here.

[shikanoinheizou]

[Unfortunately not joined by another, though there had been a glimmer of hope about it right at the start there... Just another dream, though, in the end. What a pity.]

I've spoken to Aether, too. I don't think it's just the three of us here, either.

[Which is a little exciting, actually. Heizou has never travelled outside of Inazuma and therefore has relied on people coming in for exposure to other countries and their cultures. To be able to meet them with ease here is something he's looking forward to.]

I'm not expecting too much out of that, but it's good to have some common ground with people around you.

[mapleleaves]

There are others from Mondstadt here too, I believe. I can't say I know them by name just yet, though.

( he had a nice bath with Kaeya. )

I agree completely. Still ... it is rather strange for me to be here without the Crux fleet, after staying with them for so long. Then again I have always considered myself to be a man with no ties.

[shikanoinheizou]

Maybe not as much without ties as you thought.

[Someone like Kazuha... he could see how the man would very easily make friends. How he might well end up having ties all around Teyvat, rather than none at all. Heizou could almost be envious.]

I'll admit, I'm not sure what to make of it all. I do feel at rather a loose end.

[mapleleaves]

Perhaps.

( maybe. it's true - he loves making friends. and those long gone will stay in his heart forever. there's always room for more. )

That may be the case, but it's nothing you can't handle, detective. ( he smiles softly. ) No mystery will elude your deduction skills for too long. Although you do seem to be quite somber. Is there something troubling you about your arrival?

[shikanoinheizou]

[Despite his confidence in his own skills he can't help but be warmed by the genuine delivery of Kazuha's compliment. But then the question, ah, and a frown worries his brow as he looks away.]

You could say that.

[Vague as ever. Much like Kazuha himself, Heizou is loath to unload his troubles onto others.]

It's nothing, really. Just another mystery to look into.

[mapleleaves]

Are you sure?

( he's not entirely convinced ... )

I do consider you a good friend of mine. If you wish to confide in me about anything, it will stay between us. But do not worry if that's not what your heart desires. Just know you have a person to talk to if you ever need it.

[shikanoinheizou]

[It's almost imperceptible, but his eyes do widen just a little when the words 'good friend' hit his ears. Ah, well...

Heizou frowns again, though only for a moment before the expression eases, smoothing off his brow, and he looks back over at Kazuha with a small smile.]

There was someone with me when I arrived. Someone I haven't been able to find since.

[Someone important.]

[mapleleaves]

Is that so?

( he's curious, but he won't be too nosy. if anyone knows the pain of being separated from someone they love, it's Kazuha. )

Then I hope the stars align to reunite the two of you.