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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!
no subject
[She glances around at the maze, her mouth pulling to one side. It isn't exactly entertainment.
On the other hand, she's not bored.]
There are festivals. Quite often, actually. And we're often put through "trials" by Thirteen. Sometimes they're fun. Other times...
[A small gesture around.]
no subject
I suppose these..."trials" are meant to part of that whole finding one's true potential... thing, yes?
[It's likely obvious by his tone that he doesn't exactly find the word trials to be apt to this particular situation. It feels more like an inconvenience than a trial. Not that he's eager for a proper trial. Jaskier has already been through his exams and he would like to imagine formal examination is somewhat behind him now that he's graduated university. But when compared to a test of his knowledge or ability, this doesn't particularly feel as though it's accomplishing any of that and he lacks a proper alternative at present.]
no subject
Not everyone is as lucky. Ariadne's beginning to understand that part. But still in an abstract sort of way.]
The part I haven't quite figured out yet is the way that Thirteen likes to sort us. It's a bit strange.
no subject
[Jaskier cocks his head to one side curiously.]
no subject
Yes. Apparently, there are three groups: Legends, Myths, and Familiars.
[It's hard not to shudder at the word 'familiar,' but apparently, it's different here from back home. Thank the gods.
Or thank Thirteen, rather.]
I'm not quite sure how it works, but the group you're in manifests itself in your body, after a while.
no subject
In my what?
[No? No, thank you?]
no subject
I know, I know, it sounds a little scary. But it's not...not so bad.
[For her, anyway.
To demonstrate, she pauses, spreading her arms, lifting them above her head like a ballerina. And like waves of heat off of the pavement, the air around her ripples. And two glorious wings, with feathers so black that they reflect rainbows, appear on her back.]
no subject
Well! [he starts, when he finally remembers how to speak.] I mean, they look lovely on you. [Jaskier means that sincerely, and he hopes she knows that despite some of the nervousness that remains in his tone. Jaskier still isn't altogether keen about anything changing about himself. He happens to quite like how he is right now without any sort of...changes.] Honestly, you must turn the heads of every person in a room even without them, but with them? No one stands a chance.
But I can't imagine the same would hold true for me.
no subject
[Yeah, she has no idea what that means. But what's very clear to her is his sense of uneasiness, so she waves it off dismissively.
Daintily, she folds the wings behind her back and allows them to vanish. As if to prove that it's all right, that things can be hidden. She, of all people, knows about hiding the truth.]
It's all right, Jaskier. Not everyone changes. And not all the changes are so...dramatic.
[Her bad.]
no subject
That's... [He nods a little as if she should know the word he's looking for here. Jaskier really doesn't want to insult her since she seems quite comfortable with her wings. Never mind that he wasn't talking out his ass. They really do look quite lovely on her. But it's a different matter when it comes to himself.] Good.
[Clearing his throat, he presses on to ask something perhaps a bit personal rather than any other questions the purpose of their bodies being changed by this place.]
I don't mean to pry, [he says as everyone who absolutely means to stick their noses where it doesn't belong always prefaces before doing as much,] but why hide them? They are gorgeous, you know. And you seem to take a lot of—and, forgive me if I'm being presumptuous in saying this, but it seems to be a comfort for you in this place and with Thirteen.
I would think you would display what she's given you with pride.
[It's not exactly accusatory. Jaskier's tone isn't harsh enough to offer that sort of criticism. It's a gentler curiosity because it really does only seem natural that Ariadne would want her wings to be on display for all to see as evidence of this being she's placed her faith and trust in if nothing else.]
no subject
[The question surprises her. She's almost ready to immediately reply that she doesn't hide them. Except that she does. She's spent most of her adult life hiding one part of herself or another. To the point where it's just an instinct. Even talking to this nice boy now, she's hiding a part of herself.
Quite a few parts of herself.
He's right. That's absolutely the right word.]
I haven't really thought about just walking around with them out.
[The way her mother lived. The way Uncle Tahafra and her father lived. She's always taken more after Aunt Lysia in that respect. She sacrificed the wings she was born with to hide. It seems only natural to do the same with the ones she's been gifted with.]
I suppose it always seemed inconvenient?
[She shakes her head, fully aware of how odd that sounds. But really, she's never had to deal with walking around with wings in places that have doorways or narrow stairwells.]
I don't know. I really don't know.
no subject
You could leave them out now. [There's another beat before he hurriedly adds,] If you'd like, of course!
...It's not like there isn't plenty of space for them here in the maze. I think you'd have to be actively trying to have them be in the way. And, well, I certainly don't mind them in the least. So, they're not going to be a bother at all!
no subject
It's a little strange.
And it's a little sweet too.
Ariadne considers it a moment, before slowly unfurling her wings again, this time less showy, less ostentatious. They just appear more naturally, folded behind her back.]
Actually, I tried to use them to cheat my way out of the maze but there was something above blocking me from getting too high.
no subject
I suppose that means you didn't get a good look at the whole thing then, yeah?
[That would certainly help with navigating if she happened to spy the exit from above. Even if she couldn't have memorized the entire thing—which would be unreasonable to expect or hope for—at least a small sense of the correct direction would have possibly gone a long way.]
no subject
I couldn't even see over a single wall. I guess Thirteen just didn't want us to take any shortcuts.
[Ariadne glances around, taking note of the way the landscape has changed.]
I think, though, we did what we were meant to do. I'm not sure there's anything to fear.
no subject
no subject
[Does Thirteen's logic make any sense to her? Rarely.
Does she trust it? She's...working on that. A bit aggressively.
Nevertheless, she just smiles and shrugs.]
We'll be out in no time. You'll see.
no subject
[He waves a dismissive hand as a wordless you know what I mean.]
I certainly have none when it comes to my present company.
no subject
Nor do I, sir.