January 2023 Test Drive Meme

[folkie]

JANUARY 2023 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]

beautiful sunshine ray

Content Warnings: mood altering substances.

hot chocolate

The weather across Folkmore is universally chill: Wintermute is frozen, Willow covered in snowdrifts, Epiphany a mess of slush, Cruel Summer dangerously cold at night, and Exile wrapped in a numbing fog. You wouldn't know it, but things are at least a little nicer than they have been - with the exception of Wintermute, you at least are not likely to freeze to death just by wandering around.

Or so you'll discover eventually. Right now? Well, you just got here! One minute you’re falling through the sky, and the next you’re in the middle of an ice fort. The walls are chiseled with care, rising up about seven feet high. Skinny windows are cut in the ice at regular intervals. There is no roof, and above you the sky is a cold, clear blue only marred by the occasional fluffy white cloud. Set inside the fort is a hot chocolate bar staffed entirely by white rabbits. They are the size of regular rabbits, but they don't seem to have any issue standing on their hind legs and using their little paws to pour drinks from large red cannisters into red paper cups.

By request, they will also drop a marshmallow into your cup. You have your choice of colours, and each one will have a different effect:


Pink: Causes you to feel bold and confident!
Blue: Grants you a mild sense of euphoria!
Yellow: Makes you feel quite flirty!
White: Nothing. It's a marshmallow.

winter games

Outside of the ice fort, you will find yourself among gently rolling hills covered in snow. It's perfect for packing... which you may very well find out when you're hit with a snowball. Who threw that? Who cares! The very instant you're struck you have the irresistible urge to get in on a no-holds-barred snowball fight! You might wind up throwing snowballs at other Star Children, or maybe you team up with another person to take out anyone else you see. Or maybe instead you see that there are toboggans and crazy carpets at the tops of some of these hills and you decide to take a ride with someone instead. There are snow angels and snowmen to make, too!

No matter what you decide to do, the moment you are hit with a snowball you just want to engage in light hearted fun and what some might call childish behaviour. You might be a little embarrassed later, but right now you're not concerned at all! And really, this is a great way to maybe make some new friends.

beautiful moonlight shine

Content Warnings: potential monster fights.

sing your life

Maybe you stay out having fun in the snow just a little too long, or maybe you've wandered to an entirely different part of Folkmore. However it happens, the sun has set and a brilliant sliver of moon has risen instead.

Folkmore is home to many Star Children, but it is also home to many spirits. As you move through the night, you realise that you can see some of these in your peripheral vision: pale, insubstantial things that inhabit the natural world. The idea might be creepy, but these spirits are all singing and the sound of it makes you feel safe. When you encounter another Star Child, you are happy to have them with you, happy to share this sense of comfort. You feel like you could walk forever under the new moon and have no harm ever befall you again.

...until it stops.

The sudden stillness falls like a blow, only to broken by the sound of an awful lot of snow hitting the ground - a loud thwump. When you turn to find he source of the noise, you will find one or more vaguely humanoid snow creatures ponderously headed your way!

You can fight them, of course. They are a little slow, but they are aggressive and have an annoying habit of reforming. You will notice that there are weapons hidden here and there - normal, unenchanted swords or guns or spears. You can find these and use them to smash the snow monsters apart until they stop trying to reform.

Or you may realise that these creatures only showed up when the other spirits stopped singing. What does that mean?

Weaponized karaoke!

When you sing, the monsters retreat. A duet will encourage them to do so even quicker. And when they are finally gone, you will find that they have left behind a sturdy wooden chest, inside of which is one item from home for each of you.

poetry in lights

In your travels at night, at some point you will find that you can see warm lights up ahead. Once you get close enough, you can see that the light comes from red lanterns hung everywhere. There are Star Children and even some spirits present, many of them moon gazing.

There is a kiosk set up, manned by black rabbits. If you have been injured in your fight with the snow monsters or some other way, they will patch you up with basic first aid at once.

The rabbits are also handing out sparklers. People are drawing shapes in the air with them, laughing and having a great time.

When a sparkler is put into your hand all you really want to do is trace words against the velvet night sky. What words? You are compelled to spell out something from the heart: it can be a deep hurt, or a secret hope. Something intensely personal that you may not otherwise share, now written in light visible to all.

Maybe you feel the urge to explain, or defend. Or maybe you want to ask someone else about their own words hanging there in the air like a neon sign.

What a way to get to know someone.

Comments

[twatter]

[ She says 'friend' and Tech's skeptical because he's no stranger to the tactic of the slight pause and then added friend descriptor. Largely it's been when Tech spoke of lovers, but also at times for people he'd seen as family. People he both wasn't sure what to call because friend didn't seem like enough and also a blanket statement to cover up how much deeper the feelings went. Because feelings could hurt and be exploited and trust wasn't something to hand out for free. Which is why even though Tech could conceivably call her out, he chooses not to. He's not here to betray any trust or exploit a vulnerability. They're just existing in the same space, mutually benefiting from this world's system of lore generation. ]

It could be different in your world, but from my perspective, gods will exist so long as there are believers. And at times, they don't even have to believe to bring one into existence. I am, after all, the product of an atheist world that believes in its technology more than anything divine.

[ His reveal is rather understated -- nothing grandiose or pompous as it had been in the past, as he clawed for any form of respect he could receive. Tech Boy realizes he'd be fighting a losing battle if he was trying to impress someone like her. But more than that, as he's been living in these worlds where he's mixed in among the people he knows that being a god really doesn't seem to matter. Yeah, he's got some tricks up his sleeves. Yeah, he's harder to kill. But ultimately it doesn't matter. Being a god didn't make him anything special to Ava or Jaskier. Being a god didn't stop him from getting kidnapped in the first place. ]

Hard to believe in gods when you've lived among them your whole existence. But that also lends itself to the skepticism your power source could outlast the gods. They're so intrinsically tied to mortality that for them to not exist would have to mean there's not much left to the world and its inhabitants.

[mirefang]

[Cairos raises her eyebrows slightly at Tech's reveal not so much because of what Tech reveals so much as how he reveals it. There's something notably subdued in the way he declares himself a god. There's no boasting of his power or heightening his existence as something so truly grand that she ought to be in awe for being in his presence at all. While it shouldn't necessarily come as a surprise given his overall attitude towards others in his pantheon, Cairos can't say she's ever known a god to be presented in any form or fashion that would suggest any degree of humility. At least not to an extent that the relationship between a god and his worshipers would sound more like a business transaction than anything meaningful in either direction.]

[It's curious to say the least.]

[Cairos looks at him thoughtfully for a moment.]

The skepticism is fair, [she admits,] but a patron to someone like me isn't like a god at all. Not as you've described yourself and others in your pantheon. My patron doesn't have a name or story or iconography known by anyone in my world. It's not dependent upon the existence of belief in it to exist and act or hold influence in another plane. I don't bend a knee to it and pray or beg for its guidance. No one does.

It simply is.

[Were Cairos' explanation left there, no doubt questions would be raised then as to how and why she has been gifted abilities or insight by this unknown being. After all, if it doesn't need her for anything to exist or have its own abilities, then why give anything to her at all? Cairos doesn't leave it there though, going on to explain further her connection to her mysterious patron.]

It grants me nothing in that regard. What I've learned has been through my own studying, my own attention to its existence. [Cairos tips her head slightly.] You could think of it like a book that has been written by an unknown author. The book is right there, plainly in sight for anyone to pick up and read. Some will ignore it entirely and never even crack the thing open once, or they might take a look at it and find it written in a language they can't understand. Others will read it, but their understanding even by the end is shallow. They either are content with this or find it vexing they can't understand more. Either way, they put it down and let that be that.

Others are like me. They will read it cover to cover multiple times and take more from it with each reading.

[And unfortunately without Chirp, Cairos no longer has access to that metaphorical book to continue pouring over it and learning. But she keeps that part to herself. There's already been enough vulnerability with the words written in the air by the sparkler that she doesn't need to present herself in a one-down position like that to him. Not just yet. Not if there isn't a clear path between that potential vulnerability to an advantage or exploit she can take advantage of here, and she won't know that until she knows precisely what sort of purpose he might serve in all of this. Even he even can. He's a god that's been brought to this place after all and doesn't seem to have any ability to leave on his own.]

But enough of all that philosophical and spiritual talk, [she says with a wave of a gloved hand.] You're probably sick to death of chatting with mortals about that shit.

[Blue and green eyes meet his with a small, lightly amused smile.]

Especially the second they find out you're a god.

[Because even if he doesn't make a big deal out of it and Cairos certainly isn't about to herself, she's willing to bet a significant amount of gold on how often others do the moment he lets them in on that fact about himself. She can't imagine it's particularly comfortable for him with as unenthused he seems to be about his own godhood.]

My name is Cairos.

[twatter]

[ Tech would say that it really depends on the person -- whether he'd be frustrated by the philosophical discussions and spiritual talk. There are some he could listen to for hours, an appreciation he didn't have back in his world where he couldn't stop and take a single moment to listen. Just go, go, go. From one cancellation to the next, from one viral video to the next, what's relevant today will not be tomorrow. New gods didn't have time for the past. And because he's so grounded in the world, he has a hard time deciphering her descriptions of where her powers come from. Yennefer would know better, he thinks. Yennefer would understand this talk of magic.

But Tech can understand the thirst for knowledge. He could understand observing something and seeing its meaning in many different ways. He can understand analyzing something cover to cover as she says and finding something new and unique within it. One could argue that might seem like she's worshipping something...even if it's not exactly a deity, but the point more is that she's someone with a thirst for knowledge and understanding. Someone who likely wouldn't rest until they've uncovered all there is to know -- and even then, that probably wouldn't be enough. She would move on to learn new magics.

He smiles somewhat solemnly. It makes him miss Yennefer. ]

Cairos, hm? Maybe something worth noting, at least in terms of my world's language, is it means the right, critical or most opportune moment. Maybe we can say that of our meeting or your arrival in this world.

[ His eyes drift toward the blur of their written letters, the lights finally starting to fizzle away. ]

I don't have a name. Atheistic worship doesn't exactly grant grand titles to its deities. I just tell people they can call me Tech, but it's not something I'm married to. So if you have a better name, feel free to use it.

[mirefang]

[There's a brief look of skepticism in Cairos' expression when Tech claims to not possess a name, but she lets him offer his explanation for the claim and his placeholder of a name. The latter does cause Cairos to wrinkle her nose as it seems entirely unimaginative, but she avoids offering any verbal criticism for it.]

Well, if your world is anything like mine, you do have a name, [she says with the sort of confidence on can only carry when they know they're right.] Where I'm from, everything—and I mean everything from the pebbles in the dirt beneath your feet to the most powerful deity imaginable—has a true name and knowing that true name is what grants you power over it. Yours is just forgotten and lost. Assuming, of course, that you're not lying to me.

[Cairos studies Tech intensely for a moment even going so far as to step closer to him until she's squarely in his personal space. Standing nearly as tall as him, she barely needs to tilt her head up to maintain eye contact. With all of that, Tech could be easily forgiven if he assumed she was somehow trying to divine the truth or his true name just with a mere look. It's not something Cairos can do, however. Perhaps someday, if she's able to become all that her blood would suggest and call her to be, but not now.]

Irori, [she says after a moment.] The stories says he was a mortal man who achieved enlightenment before he ascended to become one of the gods of the world. Most of the other gods have big feelings about him, but he doesn't tend to get himself too wrapped up in all their drama. What with the whole focus on history and knowledge and self-perfection. Doesn't leave him much time to get into squabbles outside occasionally feeling some of the other deities stumbled into their godhood rather than earning it.

He also doesn't tend to care how his worshipers depict him. [She offers another crooked grin before she lightly punches Tech in the shoulder and takes a steps back out of his space.] So, I don't think he'll give a fuck if I give his name away to you.

[And it's the best name Cairos can come up with to give him that has a little more creativity behind it than Tech. As he's framed it to her, he's divinity found in the mundane. To Cairos, there is no other name that could reflect as much in her own world.]

cw: references to torture

[twatter]

[ Any skepticism about him lying should be eased by the way he seems to tune into her words -- to lock in and express a flicker of hope there's truth to them. He knows there's likely some truth in terms of his own name. If he is as old as mankind's first fire, then surely somewhere in the past lies a name, an identity, a truth. Without access to his totem, though, it's an impossible lock to break. Information only accessible in fragments after a demon lord carved out parts of his brain and they had to regrow. And if that's the key to unlocking his memories in full, he'll skip the lobotomy and content himself in who he is now, thanks.

But how tuned in he was to her words only increases when she does what so many fail to do -- whether due to lack of creativity or simply because they want him to name himself. Humans are the ones who name their gods, he'd protest. And there were a few who did give him names. Ava called him Theodore. Monika called him by a varying array of deity names. Zeus was her preferred. But none of those names were given to him with the purpose and conviction of Cairos -- who stands tall and deems him with a borrowed name of a god from another world who wouldn't know any better. Almost as though she's knighting him.

He can't keep how touched he is out of his eyes. He can't keep how much this means to him and how deep that meaning goes out of the way his lips part and set together again. He can't keep the emotion at bay, even after her light punch to make it more of a joke and her air of nonchalance. His hand goes up to touch where she punched and clutch it there, almost as though nursing the spot but more holding onto the physical evidence that this is real. Almost like a pinch me so I know I'm not dreaming sort of thing.

His eyes lower after a time and he lets out a weak laugh to downplay how truly affected he is, even if it's far too late to pretend otherwise. Maybe she'll be merciful and pretend along with him considering the small favor he did for her to start this interaction. ]

Yeah. That works. Wish I could say the same thing about not getting wrapped up in god drama, but...it's been a couple of years. I've been removed from most gods and their bullshit. I...

[ His shoulder still tingles from her touch. Tech finally lets it go, arm falling against his side again. ]

I'm still searching for my meaning.

[ An honest confession bought by the name. Tech has an idea of how it ends -- to sacrifice his godhood and live out the rest of his days with Jaskier. But until then, what is his reason? Who is he? What will his legacy be? Will Folkmore even answer those questions? Who knows... ]

Sorry. That's a stupid thing to say. We just met. Not like you give a fuck about my plight.

[mirefang]

[Cairos watches his feeble attempts at masking how much the name effects him impassively, which could easily be construed as kindness on her part, but it isn't. Not intentionally, in any case. For Cairos, she simply doesn't wish to seem too invested or otherwise interested in the emotion he displays for reasons far beyond seeming as though she doesn't wish to offend him or draw attention to something he would much rather move on from in conversation.]

Well, if that's the whole point of this place, then you'll have a lot to gain from this place, won't you? [she asks, lightly folding her arms. That if has a significant amount of weight behind it though even without Cairos emphasizing it with her tone. Lifting her chin slightly, Cairos returns to something Tech said earlier.] There's nothing here for me though. I can say that with full confidence even if the fox isn't full of shit. My path lies elsewhere. So, it's not luck that's going to help with finding my way out of this place. I'll get back my power and rip a hole in the fabric of this plane if that's what it takes in the end.

[twatter]

[ He blows out a breath, turning to his vape pen with a flicker of his eyebrows as though to agree with her if. Because yeah, if the point is finding meaning, maybe he'll benefit from here. But that's a strong if. Gods are never so straightforward with their intentions. The fox isn't going to be much different. He exhales the vanilla vape at her assertion about tearing open a hole in this world and returning to her own. The ambition and the power -- he believes in her intent to do just as she says. And a part of him, the part that's always seeking an answer to the question of how do I get to Jaskier's world, wonders just how he could endear her to him enough so that she'd consider ripping a path for him, too.

If this were his world where he reigned supreme, top of the technological tower as the world came to rely on him more and more, it would be easy. Here, he has few followers and very little power over the powers that be. Not much to offer beyond the areas she lacks in technological prowess. And anyone could teach those. It didn't have to be a god of technology. Fuck knows two year olds could figure these things out these days. So time and opportunity will have to do the work for him. ]

Well. It sounds like you got the drive for it. You might not need to work so hard to find your way back home, though. Every month people vanish from this world. More arrive to take their place so you barely notice their absence unless they were close to you. From what I hear when someone you care about leaves this world they appear to you in the stars.

[ He nods toward the night sky. ]

An apparition made of starlight, waving a final goodbye. Can't confirm whether it's true or not because I've never seen it personally. And I can't confirm if home is where these people return, but maybe that's something worth investigating? If a hole is already opening up monthly, all you would then have to do is find out how to seize control of it for yourself.

[mirefang]

[Cairos' brow furrows slightly as Tech describes the final goodbyes of the Star Children to her. The scrutiny could easily feel directed toward him, but it's not particularly. Slow as Cairos can be to trust, she doesn't think he has any particular reason to lie to her right now. Not when he could so easily stand to benefit from her success in finding a way out either of her own making or through wrenching control from the fox. He is, after all, just as trapped here as she is and she can't imagine he possesses any more desire than her to let that continue for as long as the fox would have either of them stay.]

[But it is an interesting amount of faith he places in her so quickly and readily that she might be capable of prying such control and power away from a being akin to a god. For all he knows, she's realistically all talk and with very little to show for it.]

Drive and intelligence will take me pretty far, [she agrees with a nod.] But it's going to take a hell of a lot more than just drive and intelligence to make that a reality, Irori.

[She moves a little closer to him again, the lingering rich, sweet scent of his vapors hanging in the crisp winter air. Cairos is still careful with her next words, not wanting to create a situation in which she is the one down and seeking his help in earnest because it's a test, not an admission of any true weakness.]

It seems our little fox friend didn't exactly trust me to have access to all my power.

[To anyone with heroic tendencies, this is a honeyed trap. It's an easy enough one to set. In Cairos' experience, people see whatever it is they wish to see. And those heroic types can see a beautiful maiden in need of rescuing with so very little effort if she wills it. Cairos doesn't need to reveal the full extent of her vulnerability without Chirp at her side. Just a hint. But if he's less than honorable than some noble knight with fanciful notions about the woman of the woods? If he's just like all the other gods and beings with any sort of power over mortals? Well, this is just as much a trap as it would be for any idiotic notions that Cairos is need of rescuing. He'll assume her to be desperate enough that it will be no matter to manipulate her into whatever means he deems necessary to control her.]

[She wants to see which it is. No doubt she'll be disappointed either way, but it's important to know which she is working with if she is to maintain her own control over her own fate.]

[twatter]

[ Irori, she says. A full commitment to the name she'd given him, uttered so easily as though it's truly his. She steps a bit closer and a tension prickles his spine, a faint and quiet alarm warning him to put space between them again. An echo from his past living among gods where especially beautiful women couldn't be trusted and could utilize their sex appeal to manipulate just about anything from the desperate. And Tech Boy always had his full guard up so that he didn't fall into the desperate category, even as he craved and longed for touch and affection. Knowing what Bilquis could do, he could not deny as her hands skimmed along his thighs that a tiny part of him didn't consider caving to her sort of pleasure. Logic overrode desire, though.

But that felt like a lifetime ago -- a lifetime since he had to be on guard. He had regular partners. Intimacy and touch became a part of his life now, as much as breathing. Unfortunately for him, this means he does not step back. He remains where he is, taken by the two separate colors of her eyes. How had he not noticed before? Tech swallows. Hard. His gaze forces itself away, toward the sky where the words no longer burn their brilliance...but he still recalled what they originally said.

What if I am too weak to ever be free? ]

You can unlock your own powers.

[ Tech says, not as a rejection of the idea she's trying to plant or an unwillingness to help but to affirm the idea without saying it. You are not weak. You control your fate. You WILL find freedom. ]

Don't discredit the sorts of things you can purchase through the spoons. The system is flawed. Far as I've discovered, there's no limit to what can be acquired. For maybe a thousand spoons or less, you can bring your power source to you. She doesn't have to know what you intend to do with it.

[ This might be Thirteen's world, but as far as Tech can tell, she's not omnipotent. She imprisoned them likely for her own entertainment, sending them away when they were no longer entertaining. Worst case scenario, if Cairos displeased Thirteen, she would be sent back home...and that's achieving the same means through a different method. Tech, on the other hand, needs to be careful. Home and hell are not places he wishes to return to. His ultimate destination is more impossible than that. ]

[mirefang]

[When the nervous energy she seems to spark within him culminates in his averting his gaze and avoiding hers, Cairos finds herself almost disappointed. To begin with, she hadn't anticipated him to fluster so easily, but with that fluster she knows that planting the seeds of heroism is likely the correct path forward. She just needs him to step into it, allow himself to be pulled in by the deception of helplessness enough—]

[But those aren't the words out of his mouth. There's no grandiose statement of intention. No implication that he might make himself available to her and serve her in some way in this quest for power.]

[Cairos is careful to not let her surprise show much on her face. Not beyond the momentary microexpression wherein she cannot help but look at him with further scrutiny as she silently curses.]

[Fucking gods and their games.]

[She can almost hear her mother in the back of her mind. A peal of ugly laughter that shrieks out on its own since no one else finds as much delight as she does before the berating begins, reminding Cairos that she is stupid, useless little girl attempting to play games she has no business playing.]

[Almost immediately, she feels the snare wrap tight around her.]

[A stupid, useless little girl.]

[Cairos' jaw tenses for just a brief moment, but she otherwise stands her ground even as her pulse and mind race, trying to discern his angle. How can he at once be so reactive to her, so visibly malleable, and yet rather than yielding to some delusions of being her savior, he simply places the power back in her hands? He doesn't overtly try to manipulate. He doesn't try to place himself in the fore. He just tells her that it's all within her own reach.]

Well then. Looks like I'll have to consider continuing my auntie's business here after all. [And make no mention of her own mother's affairs.] I'm not a healer, not like her daughter, but I know a few potions and poultices that could be useful.

[Among other things. But she perhaps shouldn't advertise her knowledge of poisons runs a bit deeper than the healing arts.]

I'm sure I could make a bit of...spoons off that.

[It's likely clear to Tech the word spoons still feels incredibly unnatural to Cairos to speak of in terms of currency.]

[twatter]

[ When it seems she's stopped advancing, Tech glances to her again -- missing her subtle scrutiny by a fraction of a second. And now that the topic has shifted to something outside of them, his casual demeanor returns. He waves a hand as though dismissing a pesky insect. ]

You don't need to put nearly as much effort into it. Talking to people. That's enough. Even texting them if you don't feel like talking in person. For every message you send, every question you ask, every answer you give -- you generate a spoon. As long as it's a back and forth exchange between another person it counts toward your overall wealth.

[ Tech chooses to take a step closer, bringing them shoulder to shoulder. The conversation has drawn to its natural conclusion, but Tech doesn't want to backtrack to step away from her. That might give off a suggestion he's trying to run and he doesn't want to come across as some incel who cowers away from an attractive woman because he fears their beauty. He'll draw in and then walk past as they part ways. That seems friendlier. ]

But if you want to do things the old fashioned way, I'm sure there's a market for potions and the like. If you have the ability to make one that can turn someone into a transparent, gaseous state for a period of time, I'd be willing to buy it.

[ He can think of several situations where it might be handy to be incorporeal here. And like Tech's artifact that can turn him into a dragon temporarily, he's hoarding these items for a worst case scenario. But he has no idea if this is even a possibility for her or if invisibility potions are a thing made up for fantasy movies and books. She might laugh at his absurdity, and she'd be right to...considering he's making assumptions about things he doesn't understand. But at the same time, it doesn't hurt to throw it out there, does it? Magic knows no real bounds. It's only limit is one's own imagination. ]

[mirefang]

[Cairos doesn't look entirely impressed by his suggestion of talking to people. There's really little point in hiding her disdain for conversation after all. It's the sort of thing that he'll come to realize and know about her one way or another regardless of how much she plays other matters close to the chest. Especially if there might come a time wherein he meets Selene. It will be painfully obvious then with how enthused Selene is to make a potential friend.]

[But even as her expression displays that disdain for the notion of interacting with the other Star Children even in meaningless ways, she only grumbles for a moment. A muttered, Lovely. Small talk. before she says nothing further, allowing her thoughts that it's a complete and utter waste of time to remain implied rather than spoken aloud.]

I can do it. But not like this. Mixing together some herbs isn't going to be able to change someone's form. I have to be able to infuse the potion with higher levels of magic for the potion to work.