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folkmore mod ([personal profile] folkie) wrote in [community profile] folkooc2023-04-26 09:04 pm
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April 2023 Test Drive Meme

April 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 OnePrompt Two]

worms.
Content Warnings: hallucinations, poison, giant worm

One minute you were a falling star, but as your body reforms you become aware of one important detail: it's friggin hot.

That's because you've landed in a desert! Yes, you have had the misfortune of landing in Cruel Summer, the hottest and arguably most dangerous part of Folkmore. Lucky you!

The first bit of good news is that you're pretty sure you can see a train station off in the distance, although it's extremely difficult to judge exactly how far off due to the flatness of the terrain. The second bit of good news is that you have awoken with either a canteen of water, or an umbrella to keep the sun off. The third bit of news - good or bad, depending - is that you've awoken near another Star Child. Whoever this is will have the opposite gift than what you received; if you have water, they have an umbrella, and if you have an umbrella they have water. Well, you know what they say: sharing is caring! Undeniably the water is a touch more important, so hopefully whoever has it isn't a colossal dick.

As you trek through the desert towards the distant structure, you will notice periodically the air off to either side of you will shimmer. You may dismiss it as merely the heat playing tricks, but if you choose to investigate you will find mundane weapons like swords, guns, shields, etc.

At some point as you walk, you will feel a tremor beneath your feet. It grows in intensity until suddenly the sand sprays everywhere as something bursts forth from the earth below!

Wavering above you is a blood red worm. It is large - end to end it runs about thirteen feet - and its segmented hide is tough enough that rocks bounce right off of it. You might have more luck with bullets or bladed edges, but it's still going to be a tough fight. It also boasts some impressive offensive tricks; its mouth is ringed with many rows of fangs, and itspits a thick yellow acid that will corrode your skin and your weapons if you're not careful. If that wasn't enough, during your fight you might here a sudden brrrrrrrrrapppp! as the creature farts lightning at you. Hilarious... until it knocks you to the ground.

You would do well to work as a team to take this monster down. You and your partner might have powers or skills that could come in handy, or maybe you're quick on the uptake when it comes to any new abilities afforded you by your new role!

If you defeat the worm in battle, a golden chest will appear. Inside of it are items from your homeworlds - these rewards are especially likely to be any weapons you owned back home.

But hey, maybe you're a lover, not a fighter. There's no judgement here in Folkmore. You can outrun the worm instead if you're both fast and clever - finding any terrain that is more rock than sand will give you a decided advantage.

Once you have either defeated or escaped the worm, you will find that you come upon a small group of tents. Under their shade are first aid supplies, and kiosks manned by fennec foxes offering water, food, and shaved ice. Nice!


so scarlet it was.
Content Warnings: emotional trauma, impalement

Giant death worms aren't the only danger in the desert, they're just the most obvious.

Even if you avoided the worms entirely, you still have to make it to one of the train stations in Cruel Summer. As you trek across the dunes you will gradually become aware that over the sound of wind and shifting sand you can hear someone singing. You feel an urge to follow the sound to its source.

This song could be anything - one that exists in your world or others, or just a melody spun in the air for the first time. Whatever it is, it is heart rending; tears may spring your eyes as you follow the sound, precious moisture falling to the thirsty desert ground.

The singing is coming from a cactus. It is taller than most humanoid creatures, tinted purple and pink at the tips, with abnormally long spines. Its song reminds you sharply of some deep loss from your past, and at the same time inspires a terrible compulsion to go to the cactus and sink against it.

And what a relief it is, to embrace that melody and feel the spines slide easily through your flesh to pierce your heart. You do not bleed. By some strange alchemy, your heartache drains from your body as liquid, filling the cactus and causing its flowers to bloom and its song to cease.

You could very well stay pinned there, dying a slow death of desiccation, but lucky for you Star Children are all over the place this time of the month and someone is bound to see that you need help.

Trying to pry someone off of the cactus is impossible. The key lies in the flowers - they must be removed. When they are, sweet liquid will spray from the place where it had grown, dousing the rescuing Star Child. With this impromptu shower comes psychic flashes of the painful memory that has trapped the victim.

Once all of the blooming flowers have been removed, the cactus will retract its spines and release its prisoner. There will be no physical wounds left from this encounter.

You will also discover nearby that there is now a golden chest. Inside of it are items from your homeworlds, although none of these items are weapons.


Thankfully, you should be able to reach either Oozlum or Obambo Station without further incident. At either of these you will be able to get some water and supplies, as well as get the hell out of Cruel Summer.

devilofaboy: PB: Josha Stradowski (061)

[personal profile] devilofaboy 2023-05-08 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
What?

[He didn't bother trying to hide his confusion, face a little scrunched.]

I thought we were talking about shit like ferns and rose bushes.

[But last time he checked, they weren't referred to as 'organic generators'.]
huntedtyphoon: (Uhhhh)

[personal profile] huntedtyphoon 2023-05-09 07:14 am (UTC)(link)
[ He laughs pleasantly but then makes a thoughtful noise. ]

Uhhhhh what? [ They don't really have those. ]

Plants are organic, humanoid in shape when they're open, but they look like bulbs curled up. They create energy and then people use the energy to power just about anything. They work really well together.
devilofaboy: PB: Josha Stradowski (066)

[personal profile] devilofaboy 2023-05-10 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
[Well, at least they were both confused from the sounds of things.]

So they're like generators? How are they organic?

[He might've sounded a little brusque but he was genuinely curious. He just- he usually always sounded this way.]
huntedtyphoon: (Worried)

[personal profile] huntedtyphoon 2023-05-10 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
Well they're living creatures with consciousness, they just create energy until they run out. They don't really have a way to use it. They need humans to look after them, and humans need their energy.

[ It's a symbiotic relationship no matter what his brother says. He thinks his brother is wrong. ]
devilofaboy: (010)

[personal profile] devilofaboy 2023-05-12 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
Hold up. Consciousness as in- could you have a conversation with one of them?

[Either way, he wasn't sure how he felt about that. If these plants weren't sentient, it would be just like farming livestock or something, but if they were, that added a particular layer of fucked-up-ness. Not in the sense that it was wrong, so long as they weren't being mistreated, just that it was kind of fucked up.]
huntedtyphoon: (Default)

[personal profile] huntedtyphoon 2023-05-13 05:56 am (UTC)(link)
I could, yeah. [ He smiles a little bit. ]

They're a bit like a collective for the most part, but they'll talk to me if I talk to them.

[ Most people wouldn't try, although he had no idea if they could talk to people. He suspected no. ]
devilofaboy: (010)

[personal profile] devilofaboy 2023-05-16 10:35 pm (UTC)(link)
What are they like?

[While he grappled with the idea of using conscious, thinking, communicating beings as energy sources.]
huntedtyphoon: (Kind Smile)

[personal profile] huntedtyphoon 2023-05-18 02:46 am (UTC)(link)
They're pretty interesting. Sometimes they chat about the town I'm visiting, because they get to know their caretakers through bits and pieces, but usually they only call for me when they're in distress. It's easier to get communication to people that way.

[ His sisters don't see very much outside of wherever they're kept. ]

Sometimes they get stressed out, that's usually when they start crying out for help and I go see them.
devilofaboy: PB: Josha Stradowski (018)

[personal profile] devilofaboy 2023-05-27 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
[Caretakers. That was a nice word for things.]

What do they get stressed about?

[People using too much power? Something trying to hurt them? He imagined there were probably a lot of possibilities.]
huntedtyphoon: (Thinking)

[personal profile] huntedtyphoon 2023-05-27 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
The same things as people I would think. Sometimes they come down with sickness which stresses them out and makes it worse.

Sometimes, they're dying. [Anyone would be stressed by that.]

Stressed plants give too much energy and might explode. Also when one dies, that's kind of mild stress for all of them because we can all feel it.
devilofaboy: PB: Josha Stradowski (019)

[personal profile] devilofaboy 2023-06-03 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
That's kind of depressing.

[Dying and/or being sick was completely understandable as something to be stressed about though.]

So I'm guessing when they explode it's bad for everyone?
huntedtyphoon: (Uhhhh)

[personal profile] huntedtyphoon 2023-06-03 04:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Uhh, yeah, especially for the other plants too. Then you know, they're dead. It's a faster way to die at least, but otherwise they can live very long lives.

The humans need them to stay alive. I'm not sure they can get any more plants.

[ As far as he knows anyway. ]
devilofaboy: (010)

[personal profile] devilofaboy 2023-06-06 05:26 am (UTC)(link)
So they're a finite resource? There aren't like, baby plants that sprout or are born or whatever anymore?

[Every time he thought he was going to run out of questions, he ended up with more.]
huntedtyphoon: (pic#16454096)

[personal profile] huntedtyphoon 2023-06-06 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Not that I know of. As far as I know they can't be replicated, but the people are trying to figure out how to get plants to grow on the planet.

[ As far as he knows. ]
devilofaboy: (004)

[personal profile] devilofaboy 2023-06-12 10:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Where did they come from in the first place, then?

[Every living thing had a way to procreate and keep its species alive, so for there to be no more of these plants- he'd never experienced one personally but the thought of them dying out caused an ache in his chest.]
huntedtyphoon: (Ehhhh)

[personal profile] huntedtyphoon 2023-06-13 07:12 am (UTC)(link)
I don't really know. [ He looks bewildered by the question. ]

By the time I showed up they were already on the ships from Earth and I don't really know if they were made by humans or just creatures they found...no idea.
devilofaboy: PB: Josha Stradowski (017)

[personal profile] devilofaboy 2023-06-18 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
Hold on. What? The ships from Earth?

[He didn't know what he'd been assuming up until this point, exactly, but this guy being from someplace not Earth probably made sense. It was just a lot for Ronan to wrap his head around. Magic and fantasy things were one thing (alright, technically two) but space travel and aliens were something else.]
huntedtyphoon: (Worried)

[personal profile] huntedtyphoon 2023-06-18 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, the humans were looking for somewhere nice to stay and colonize because I guess things weren't that great on Earth anymore, but I've never been there so I can't say- but they crash landed onto Noman's Land and uh, here we are.

[ He was born on the ship, so his knowledge on the matter comes from only what Rem told him. ]
devilofaboy: (010)

[personal profile] devilofaboy 2023-06-26 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
Are you human?

[Maybe that was rude to ask, but he looked human and up until this point Ronan had assumed he was.]

Shit's never great on Earth. People are always dicks to each other and there's always something fucked up going on.

[So he wasn't really surprised to hear that things weren't that great. That was the least surprising part of that whole statement.]
huntedtyphoon: (pic#16454125)

[personal profile] huntedtyphoon 2023-06-27 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
Heh...uh, nope. [ He offers a nervous little smile. ] I'm a plant.

[ Just one that can't produce anything, and acts like a human. He knows. It annoyed his brother to no end. ]

I guess, but sometimes people are kind too. I appreciate their kindness.
devilofaboy: PB: Josha Stradowski (025)

[personal profile] devilofaboy 2023-07-01 11:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[...Give him a moment to reboot his brain. He'd been imagining plants as huge, towering things, rooted in place, sort of like a living nuclear reactor. This was, obviously, extremely different than that.]

That's-

[No wonder this guy'd sounded like he had a soft spot for plants. It made a lot of sense now.]

Does it get lonely?

[It was a surprisingly raw question. Ronan knew what it was like to look and act human but not actually be human. He just didn't know what he actually was. But, the point was, it was fucking lonely.]
huntedtyphoon: (Default)

[personal profile] huntedtyphoon 2023-07-04 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
I don't know. Maybe it is sometimes.

[ He can acknowledge that, he's always on the run, always nomadic. That part is very lonely when he's on his own all the time. His recent traveling companions were helpful, but it was a fleeting moment in time. ]

I have a brother too, but we're not exactly on speaking terms.