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

[toomuchinfo]

[she'd been considered a monster by anyone who wasn't her family for a long time. it wasn't until she reached Kirkwall that she met people who were willing to accept her for who she was. but now, after all that happened, she wonders if she is a monster after all.

a small smile] I'll do my best. I wouldn't want to disappoint her. Not even in the afterlife or the Fade or whatever happens to us when we really die. Being at the Maker's side for eternity sounds boring.

[she may have to resume her nighttime hunting trips. she can't imagine this place is as lousy with crime as Kirkwall was, she couldn't go from one neighborhood to another without being ambushed by arseholes]

...maybe. If that's it, I--I owe him an apology. Even if it is, I still feel like I do. I hated being lied to, I hated that Anders killed the closest thing to family Seb had, but...here's the thing. I didn't like the Grand Cleric, either. She kept. Jerking Seb around by his vows. 'Oh, be a Chantry brother again, no I'm not willing to renew your vows 'cause I think I don't trust you anymore, yes I want you to protect me with your life, no I don't approve of your choice in companions.' [and she points at herself] And on and on, he must have felt like he was in quicksand and the one who could help him out dithered about whether or not he was worth it. Disgusting. But still, what Anders did was, what's the phrase? Disproportionate retribution?

[twatter]

Sounds like you were stuck square in the middle of a shit situation.

[ He fishes in his pocket for the vape pen he'd retrieved. There's no mod, though, so he can't have a smoke. Instead, it's just something he plays with in his hands because Tech Boy finds it impossible to ever sit still. ]

But the good thing about being in the middle is you can see both perspectives clearer. You got this grand cleric and Anders who fought for a cause. Maybe in the worst way possible, but still. Think of yourself like a scale and the two of them are on either hand.

[ He raises his hands, palms up to mimic a balanced scale. ]

And here, you can weigh the balance of their sins. Maybe you'll be able to find justice. Maybe you'll just find more questions. Maybe some days the weight of Anders will feel heavier...

[ One hand sinks while the other rises. ]

Maybe another day, that cleric will be the one to sink the scale.

[ The hands reverse. ]

But I think if you can reach equilibrium, that will help you find your own way to feel about things.

[ The hands equal out again. ]

[toomuchinfo]

Oh, Maker. That's putting it mildly and exactly at the same time.

[and she item is different than anything she's ever seen as she's curious as fuck about it, but trying to not let herself be distracted]

Okaaaaaay....

[she trusts him enough to go with the analogy.

and listens, watching intently]

Maybe that's my potential? I gotta be honest, I kinda thought I already had met it. But if there's anything I can do to make sure that--'no one else has to die' is both naïve and unachievable. But I want to answer for why I did what I did. My reasoning behind it all 'cause people back home keep trying to speak for me and I fucking hate it.

gosh sorry. I got busy and then sick. But I'm back now!

[twatter]

Could be your potential. Could also be your potential to find your own voice and write your own story. I think that's what the fox wants from us, isn't it? Our stories. I don't know.

[ Tech Boy shrugs. He can't quite deduce what the fox is after and won't be able to until he's been able to collect sufficient data. Being in this place for a couple of months at the least. Even if his intention is to find a way out of this place, Tech is realistic enough to know that's probably not going to happen for a while yet. Plenty of time to gather data. ]

But I'll find out soon enough.

[ And he hops off of the chest, holding out his hand to help her down just the way he'd helped her out of the pit in the first place. ]

We both will. Can I walk you back to your place?

[ Tech Boy has no doubt Hawke will be just fine on her own. She has the dog and she has her fighting skills, but.

But weirdly, it's nice just having someone to talk to, so he'd like to spend time with her for just a little while longer. ]

I'm glad to see you're back and hope that you're feeling better!!

[toomuchinfo]

[thoughtfully] ...could be. There's already a book about me, it's a bestseller. It was written by a friend, but I know he's got his own slant on things. Including Anders. And Sebastian, who he hated. He was never gonna give Seb or his reasonings a fair shake.

[the only one who understood about her and Seb was Fenris. Merrill approved as best as she could, but there was the inevitable clash between the Chantry's beliefs and Dalish beliefs, despite Seb's attempts to learn more about them and actually talk to her about their respective faiths. and Isabela said she wished Hawke had met Seb back in his wild party-boy days so they could've had a threesome]

You will. You seem, I dunno. Really smart? In a variety of ways, most people only get one.

[she takes his hand and hops down with a smile and a whistle for Fluffy to join them]

Yeah, absolutely.

[and she believes he'll thrive in this environment. she meant it when she said he was smart in a variety of ways, that would be a huge help. and she flat-out enjoys his company. congratulations, he's got a protective big sister who can and will deploy a variety of terrifying magic at anyone who tries fucking with him.

and it is nice having someone to talk to. an objective opinion. for too long, she'd been surrounded by entirely too subjective opinions. it's nice. so, yeah, she wants to spend more time with him, too]