folkooc | October 2022 Test Drive Meme

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*tdm

October 2022 Test Drive Meme

OCTOBER 2022 TDM

INTRODUCTION

[ TDM Questions ★ Jump to Comments ★ Full Navigation ]
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

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.]

[She listens to his questions, a growing smile beginning to spread across her face. Her amusement certainly isn't at his expense, of course. But it's there.]

Those are all wonderful questions. Questions that I asked when I first arrived.

And, sadly, questions that no one has been able to answer for me. Yet.

[Jaskier squints a little.]

Not sure how I feel about that yet, Airy. [He'd ordinarily perhaps not jump to using such a familiar way of referring to her, but she said most call her that. It'd seem almost impolite to refuse then and keep such a formal distance.] It sounds a bit...ominous.

[He waves his hand to emphasis the ominous aspect as if it were a tangible miasma in the air around them.]

Not that I know particularly how to feel about any of this, if I'm to be completely honest with you. I mean, I've already had quite the day before I found myself here. And while I am certainly open to most anything as far as adventure is concerned, I am a little... [Jaskier rolls his wrist a moment as he tries to find the best way to phrase it.] Finished. With it. For today.

Tomorrow would have been a better choice.

[Or not at all. But only someone sensible would say something like that, and Jaskier is only middling on sense most days.]

[She has to hold back a laugh. It's not an uncommon reaction to newly arriving.

If only they had any kind of control over when adventure called them forth.

Well, if they did, Ariadne would go on a lot more, she was certain. But that was her and this was him and he was having a terribly hard time of it.]

Well, as soon as we get out of the hedge, you can come back to my cottage and sleep the day away. And then it'll be tomorrow.

Then that shall be more than a modest improvement!

[The opportunity of a proper bed and roof over his head is certainly alluring relative to sleeping out under the stars as was the only option really afforded to him back on the Continent.]

My travel companion was quite generous in giving away his day's earnings to those who needed it, but you see, we arguably needed it just as well. So, that left us without a place to sleep for the night.

Sounds like an amiable gentleman.

[Oh, poor, sweet Airy. But in her defense, she's basing this analysis solely off the notion of someone giving away his coin to the poor.

She folds her hands behind her back, her hips and her braid swishing behind her.]

Sleeping outside isn't so bad though. There are just tricks to it.

I never slept inside, until I was nearly ten.

[And she immediately regrets saying that. She's been testing being open about who and what she is but...it's still a bit awkward. Especially with people she's only just met.]

Really?

[Just when Jaskier thinks she can't possibly get more interesting, she seems to find a way. She claims to not be a lady, and yet, she clearly understands all manner of things pertaining to court life that only those allowed to participate would be given. She also holds quite the high position as well, but claims no birthright to it. It's mere talent in languages while also holding quite the education in music as well.]

[And yet she slept beneath the stars for nearly all her childhood. Jaskier can think of no reason why anyone would do that by choice except in the absence of choice.]

Even when it snowed or rained terribly? You never once slept indoors?

[Well, if she's going to be honest...

At least she can start small.]

It never snowed in Deleo. It was nearly tropical, actually. A rain forest. Always warm.

It did rain quite a bit. But it's easy enough to craft a canopy out of leaves. Or, if it got too bad, to find a cave to wait it out.

[Some might let it drop there out of politeness, but while Jaskier never goes out of his way to be necessarily rude or insensitive, politeness really doesn't cross his mind before anything else. He finds it absolutely perplexing that anyone would opt to sleep outside when there appears to be plenty of resources at their disposal. He doesn't hesitate to start asking those questions.]

Then why not build a shelter of some sort? If you're in a forest, there would be plenty of lumber to construct something. Or you could make something cozy out of a cave, I suppose.

[The cave seems a bit glum though, if you ask Jaskier.]

[Because building a structure would draw attention. Because building a structure would operate against vigilance. And because building a structure would make them seem too much like Humans, a species Ariadne's mother couldn't tolerate.

She can't say any of this. Well. She can. She's even tried, once or twice.

But is it really good manners to just come out and say that you're not what you appear to be?]

My parents both grew up as nomads. I suppose they wanted to raise us in the same tradition.

[Much as she had taken so many of Jaskier's earlier questions at face value, Jaskier takes this answer at face value as well. And it really only serves to spark more questions from Jaskier as he perks up.]

Really? Can't say that I've ever met a nomad before. Well. Geralt notwithstanding. But then again, I'm not sure he really counts. Witchers are supposed to have their schools and whatnot if the rumors are true. [He waves a hand suddenly, dismissing any further thought or talk of Geralt because he's not here and she is.] How strange it must have been to find yourself at court then and no longer moving about! Tell me—and be honest, I will absolutely know if you're lying—do you miss it? Being outside and sleeping beneath the stars? Or what about all the traveling and places you must have seen? Do you find it terribly depressing to be kept to one place? Or now that you've experienced the opposite, would you be unable to ever return to that life?

[A couple of questions pile up at the mention of "Geralt," but Jaskier dismisses the topic quite abruptly.

She'll have to keep the name in mind.]

Of course, I miss it sometimes.

[There's no reason to lie about that. Not really. Except to hide what she is...]

But I think I've been a little spoiled. I like having a bed. And I really like all the marvelous things that can come out of a palace kitchen.

[She giggles.]

When I first moved to the palace with Aunt Lysia, I used to spend hours watching the cooks work. Eventually, they banned me from the kitchen.

...that fire was only partly my fault, though. And it was a small fire!

[Enamored is probably not what Jaskier should exactly feel at the sound of her giggle, but in typical Jaskier fashion, he's not limited to mere endearment. Not when it comes coupled with the prospect of a story so soon after. Besides, it's always wonderful to hear when others are willing to indulge themselves and it sounds like she isn't at all ashamed to admit there are some things she couldn't easily give up now that she's known them for herself.]

Oh, you can't say that you partly started a fire and leave it that. Go on. Tell me what happened and I'll be the judge if you've more than just part of the fault.

[Ariadne shrugs. Despite her many flaws, she's quite capable of laughing at herself. A good thing too, considering how often she seems to misuse language. At least, according to the other inhabitants of this strange place.

Idioms are indeed her weakness. And she's still waiting for someone to explain the terribly confusing origins of the word 'horney' that Ethan taught her, before promptly disappearing.]

There isn't much to say. I watched the cooks bake bread and I thought it looked easy enough. I thought I would try doing it myself.

...it turns out...it's not so easy.

[By no means could Jaskier be ever considered remotely skilled when it comes to the culinary arts. He's spent his entire life dependent upon the talents of others to fill his belly each day and night. Still, he cannot help the bubble of disbelieving laughter that comes after her admission. While Jaskier could understand perhaps making something not altogether that edible—simple as bread seems on its surface, Jaskier knows well enough that it's not quite as straightforward—but managing to set fire in the kitchen over bread? Jaskier would like to think one would notice before it got to that point.]

I'm sorry, you managed to set bread aflame? Just what did you do?

[She has the good sense and grace to laugh right along with him. It is pretty ridiculous, after all. And since no one was hurt, her guilt isn't as extreme as it might otherwise be.

Still, she can only shake her head.]

I have absolutely no idea! All I know is I was banished from the kitchens that day.

And I haven't used my own kitchen yet!

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