August & September 2023 Test Drive Meme

[folkie]

August & September 2023 TDM

Introduction

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This Test Drive meme is open to all.
Welcome to Folkmore's bimonthly 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 and work like "mini-events". For new players and characters, you can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Current players are also allowed to have in-game characters post to the TDM so long as they mark their top levels ‘Current Character.’

TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.

Playing and interacting with the 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 always encouraged to tag new people on the TDM!


🦊 New Star Children meet the Fox still in their worlds, and she brings them into the new realm of Folkmore. As you follow her, your body begins to change and new characteristics emerge. These may stay for a while, or perhaps they will hide away after. And during all of this, the Fox explains to you where you will be going: to Folkmore.

and then... you fall like a shooting star, falling to the land in a burst of starlight.


🦊 Experienced Star Children are already familiar with this time of the month. There are shooting stars all across the sky, and some fall to the land, which means the Fox has brought new arrivals. These newly arrived Star Children will face some tests, but Thirteen wants the more seasoned residents to participate as well.

Perhaps you follow the falling stars on your own, or perhaps the Fox simply teleports you there, but it appears you too will be part of this.

[ Prompt One ★ Prompt Two]

Oh How Quiet . ★

Content Warnings: Difficulty seeing, possibility of drowning, forced relocation

Fog & Footsteps

Some Star Children find themselves on land. The air is foggy and damp, blurring and distorting vision making it difficult to tell where they are, what’s real and what isn’t until–finally–Star Children find themselves on wet sand. Continue marching forward and trees begin to form a skeletal border, dark shadows growing and stretching further into their depths. Star Children who have experienced being exiled before can feel a path through the trees should they choose to venture further. Star Children who haven’t been exiled can feel resentment building around them and have greater difficulty navigating the path ahead.

Anyone who glances back may find footsteps in the sand alongside theirs. The more anyone looks back, the more prints appear. They’re inconsistent like their maker hops or flies part of the time or fades in and out of the physical universe… or something else. They may be human, or animal, or something Star Children can’t quite put a name to.

The Will or the Wisp

The longer Star Children dwell on them, the more tempting they are to follow—familiarity, comfort, curiosity, something. The footsteps eventually lead Star Children down a branching path toward a wall of thick, colorless fog. Inside the fog, there are enchanting wisps of light dancing just out of reach, urging Star Children to keep following. Just a little further, the sweet voices promise.

Continue onward and soon outlines appear in the mist, showing just who (or what) the earlier footsteps belong to–distorted human or animal shapes that exist only where fog is displaced by the will-o’-the-wisps they carry like lanterns. They lure Star Children deeper into Exile, all the while making promises they have no intention of keeping...

Salvation comes in the form of a fellow Star Child guided toward someone in distress by shifting sands. They radiate starlight that pierces through the thick fog around them, allowing people to find the sandy forest path toward The Beach. Once Star Children reach it, they will both find an old, sea-battered treasure chest which offers characters a personal item from home and either a nonfunctional compass or lantern. A will-o-the-wisp will fly directly into the item, which doesn’t seem to make it work. The compass needle points toward somewhere in Exile, not north. The lantern doesn’t light up. However, when the Star Child is truly lost, the compass will point where they need to go and the lantern will light up any darkness. Each Star Child can only receive either the compass or the lantern.

A Magical Day

Whether passing directly through the forest path or guided back to it, Star Children find a shoreline extending in either direction. Some water laps against the beach, but farther out is the long expanse of tenuous reality. Come September, it fades into the distance until it can no longer be seen. The beach itself is in Exile, heavy with the weight of magic. It feels reassuring and encouraging. Star Children can indulge in a sunless day at the beach, playing in the sand, and soaking in the magic. Those wishing for a bit more warmth can explore the shoreline north to the Boat Bonanza at the port where the Encantado reaches the ocean.

Key Points:

🦊 Star Children may pass through a thick fog to reach a wet, sandy path that passes through trees and leads to The Beach in Exile.
🦊 If they keep looking behind them on the path they will find footprints following alongside their own. Those footprints will try luring characters deep into fog using will-o’-the-wisp lanterns, leading them into the swamp so they can drown them.
🦊 A fellow Star Child can act as a light to guide lost characters back to the safety of shore.
🦊 Star Children that are rescued from the lure or who rescue another Star Child will be rewarded with a non-weapon memento from home and either a compass or a lantern (not both).
🦊 Star Children that don’t succumb will simply continue forward to The Beach without issue and will have opportunities to find a non-personal item from their home worlds being sold at the market. See below.

Christening Ceremony . ★

Content Warnings: Possibility of drowning, fetch quests

Boat Bonanza

Whether venturing up the coastline from Exile, floating down the Encantado River, or simply being plopped into the water, Star Children new and old find themselves in water. A strong wave rolls up the beach to drag suspecting and unsuspecting alike. Playful pinkish-red dolphins spray people off boats into the river. Or Star Children find themselves treading water deeper than they are tall with no land in sight. No worries, those who need help getting out of the water will get it. Along the shore, spirits in boats will pick up anyone in need of a ride and bring them back through the fog to the sounds of shouts and cheers and music to a large clear spot in the fog.

Boats come into view. Boats of all shapes and sizes, from single person kayaks to large houseboats, fishing craft and sailboats. They rise and fall with the waves but aren't otherwise moving. Ropes, planks, and bridges tie the boats together. Whether approaching by river or by sea, new boats explore the outskirts of the great conglomeration of boats and attach themselves—increasing the size of the gathered ships. So many boats are gathered that the shore isn't visible from new boats tying up.

Everyone's welcome aboard and to wander from boat to boat. Starfish spirits offer games of chance at low tables on broad open decks under awnings. There are even holes in the bottom of the deck, so players can dip their feet in cool water. A cephalopod band plays upbeat music other spirits and Star Children can dance to in competition with a scavenging of seagull spirits singing sea shanties as loudly as they can two boats over. Far from them, jellyfish spirits offer places to rest in quiet, with curtains drawn and sound dampened. Many spirits offer food and drink—seafood or seafood shaped candy or in the case of mystery flavored taffy, sometimes seafood flavored candy. Those who don't want freshly rolled sushi or take a chance with the candies can always see the Wandering Dog cart on the shore, where the dogs try very hard to be included.

Flotilla Afterparty

Come September, nymphs pop up in the waters and start shooing the boats away until only the houseboats and some submarines remain. Some go off on their lonesome, but more of them form flotillas that float along the coastline continuing their activities and coming to shore to pick up any who wish to join them. A restaurant flotilla, a meditative flotilla, music performance flotillas, and even gambling flotillas. Should people want off and the boats aren't ready to go to shore, sometimes Catbus shows up, able to leap whatever the distance.

Fetchquest

At any time, during the boat festival or smaller flotillas, Star Children may find non-personal items from their home world for sale. It may be a weapon or magical item. These spirits can sense who is from the same world as an item and will only offer them to those Star Children. These aren’t free! After all, these spirits pulled up these items from chests in the water. Star Children will need to do a few favors or barter something else to obtain the item from home. Star Children who help in Vasilisa’s, now mostly staffed by spirits, will find they have an easier time bartering… unless it’s in the Cuttlefish Curiosities shop. If the cuttlefish spirit smells a whiff of the grumpy old octopus spirit who has taken over as chef, that Star Child will have to do twice the work.

Key Points:

🦊 Explore your way to Nereid where the Encantado reaches the shore or get dropped into the water.
🦊 Enjoy an enormous boat festival! All kinds of boats! All kinds of activities!
🦊 In September, the boat festival will split into multiple flotillas floating around the shoreline.
🦊 Do favors or barter goods to receive a non-personal item from home. It may be a weapon or magical item. A magical gun from your world? Yes. Your personal magical gun with your dog’s name engraved in it? No.

Comments

fetchquest.

[ruevealing]

[Rue is maybe not quite the first choice of many when seeking out help, but the seven-foot, mossy green owlbear turns to the newcomer's request without hesitation, gentle and composed with a kind warmth in their expression.]

Certainly, how may I help?

[You have their full attention.]

i. falling in

[ruevealing]

Talon meet talon.

Greed flails in the water, scrambles for purchase, and without any warning there is another set of sharp talons gripping for his hand, bodily dragging him to the surface. There is quite the surprising strength in his savior - to them even too! - before he is being yanked from the water and dragged up into the boat.

And whenever the Sin's eyes finally focus, he'll come face to face with a pair of giant, concerned, owl eyes, dark and huge and unblinking, set in the heart-shaped face of a seven-foot tall owlbear. Rue is knelt at his side, a wing slung over his shoulders, their beak trembling in worry, not caring that their lovely beach outfit has gotten thoroughly soaked in the chaos.

"Pray, can you breathe? Are you well?"

[hopesparks]

That's all it takes for Anakin to pull Ezra into a tight hug, warmth and affection bleeding into their bond.

He answers only once he lets go. "For a few minutes. I didn't remember the Trench until the Fox brought me here, though."

[ Boats Part 2 ] /internally screaming

[makesrocksfloat]

Rey had heard about the boats and assumed...well, she wouldn't be able to help all that much. She'd grown up on Jakku where water was a rarity and jealously guarded. Even given her time on Ahch-To, she didn't think she'd ever get to how plentiful water was here in most places.

It was a small miracle she managed to make it to shore in the Dark Side cave. Given her inexperience with water, she easily could've drowned.

But the man on the shore seemed to be doing well enough for himself, so she almost passed him by. Until she noticed the scar, the eyes...she'd know those anywhere. And for a brief moment, the terror of watching his own son kill him with a lightsaber resurfaced in her mind and she had to gulp for air.

Though, she had to approach him..."You're...Han Solo. The smuggler. Aren't you?"

((OOC: this Rey comes from an AU where she accepted Kylo Ren's hand in exchange for him sparing the rest of the Resistance shuttles. and because she's determined to bring him back to the light or die trying))

whatever floats your boat /hello from DC! though, this Rey is an AU

[makesrocksfloat]

[Rey's been tinkering with the boats as well. she's already heard horror stories about the boats malfunctioning, so if she can help, she will. besides, she just plain likes tinkering.

but she feels someone in the Force. someone new, yet somehow familiar? how did that work?

so, direct as usual, she approached the newcomer with a smile]

Nah, that usually doesn't happen. But be ready for all of your doubts and insecurities to be on display. It's fun. [the latter two words drip with sarcasm]

((OOC: this Rey comes from an AU where she accepted Kylo Ren's hand in exchange for him sparing the remaining Resistance shuttles. and she's determined to turn him back to the light))

ii - fetchquest /o hai former stormtrooper!

[makesrocksfloat]

Rey still was in fact a stranger to a lot of people. She was even a stranger to herself, given what she'd recently learned about her lineage.

But the stranger's words penetrated the thick fog of questions and a lack of answers in her mind.

Cautiously she asked, "What exactly do I have to do? And how much does the drink mean to you?"

((OOC: this Rey is from an AU where she took Kylo Ren's hand in exchange for him sparing the remaining Resistance shuttles and she's determined to bring him back to the Light))

Sand. It's always sand, isn't it? /this is gonna mess with her head soooo much

[makesrocksfloat]

It can't be.

No way.

She thought that she was prepared for just about anything. But there should have been two caveats: one, no telling her about her heritage that raised more questions than answers and two, seeing her former mentor-ish as a young man before he grew all grizzled and bitter would be a shock. A really big one.

So Rey just kind of stood there, slightly slack-jawed as she stared at young Luke Skywalker.

And his words jolt her back into reality. His presence in the Force is enormous, nearly blinding. Even so, she plasters on a smile and says "Hey, yourself. New, I take it?"

Tetsuya Kuroko | Kuroko's Basketball | Familiar

[icanfixthem]

↪ boat bonanza

[Kuroko has been having a nice time exploring the boats. There are plenty of people to watch and good food to eat--he's yet to find anyone with milkshakes, but sushi is always nice, too--and he's even sat in on some games of chance. He's gone almost entirely unnoticed, as usual, especially in the excitement among all the people.]

[After a while, Kuroko gets tired enough to find a spot to sit down. His plan is to relax and people-watch. Be careful around him, though, his high lack of presence might make him invisible to you. You wouldn't want to sit on some kid, would you?]

↪ fetchquest

[Apprpriately to play fetch, Kuroko has pointy black-and-white dog ears poking out of his mess of light blue hair thanks to his role. He's spotted a basketball at one of the vendors, and though it's not as if he can play basketball on the beach, he's drawn to trying to obtain it anyway. However, he's being asked to barter something else, and Kuroko has no idea what to offer the spirits.]

[Next plan: approach a stranger for help. When he finds someone, he may seem to appear out of thin air, like a ghost. Sorry about that.]

Excuse me. Could you help me?

[flameandblade]

[At first, Hiei only spares the newcomer a glance. He's not a fan of being approached, even if he's not doing anything in particular.]

[However, the magic of the beach is putting a dulling fog over his edges, so he scoffs before responding.]

It's the ocean. Nothing special.

*takes a bow*

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Han was a little too wrapped up in his own thoughts to pay much attention to anyone on the docks. He had a lot of questions he wanted answers to and not a whole lot of ideas on how to get them.

He could cope with being in a bad situation, feeling like he didn't know what to do himself was making him mad. He'd been parked on this bench for more than half an hour and hadn't really gotten any further than 'get dry' when it came to his next move. His jaw was tight with frustration when Rey approached.

"Who's asking?"

He was famous now. If not for being a decorated Rebel Alliance General, than for being the husband of Princess Leia. Even at this age, he hadn't quite accepted that people just knew who he was for friendly reasons - but people didn't usually call him a smuggler anymore, either.

Rey didn't have the look of someone who wanted to make his day anymore misrerable than it was. That was something of a comfort at least.


(( I usually play a Legends Han, but for most scenes I'd say that usually doesn't matter anyway. Only when she starts talking about Kylo will it matter and we can cross that bridge when we come to it. ))

/running around in a circle internally

[makesrocksfloat]

Rey looks nondescript enough. She's stuck to her usual wear of tunics, an overcloth, and leggings, so she could be from anywhere or anywhen.

And she really, really would like to start crying or give Han a hug or both, but she manages to restrain herself because, well, how would she like it if an apparent stranger tried to do any of that to her? Not at all.

"--oh! I'm Rey. From Jakku. And you made the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs. It's sort of impossible to not hear about something like that."

Yes, ignoring the Rebellion portion of his life for now, she has no idea if he's even been contacted by Luke and Obi-Wan yet, she's going to stick to the early years as much as she can.

And not mention Kylo Ren if she can help it.

((Makes sense! The sequel trilogy is...polarizing to put it mildly. But I like panning for gold in it, anyway. ^_^; And works for me!))

Boats part 1

[nomansundertaker]

The only sea Nicholas D. Wolfwood is familiar with is the sand sea. Not this water. Sopping wet from the waist down thanks to a 'playful' dolphin. Said dolphin hadn't been a fan of him walking up to the boats, so he paddles a canoe out further around the group of boats with his cross weighting the thing down nice and steady. He's still looking for a place to tie up where there's a spirit that can help when he sees someone in the water. They look possibly as out of place as he is.

He paddles toward them, seeing a clothed man weighed down by wet clothes. Yeah, familiar feeling, except he wasn't out in the whatever this is. Wolfwood holds his sheet wrapped cross, easily the weight of a man, to one side, while he grabs for the guy. "Up you go," Wolfwood rasps, "No reason to drown today."

Re: ii - fetchquest /o hai former stormtrooper!

[forceflows]

"I don't... he didn't say what I had to do. But oh, I love it and I haven't had it in um..." he flounders a little. He hasn't had a chrono since he got left on that uninhabited moon by the rest of his battalion. So he points to the nape of his neck to the end of his messy braid. "In however long it took for my hair to grow this much."

So a couple years probably.

He frowns though, there's something in the air that feels... unsettled? Weird? Weird that is despite the entirety of circumstances leading up to this moment, "I can forget about caf for a bit though... Are you okay Miss? Kinda looked like your mind was off in an entirely different star system there."

[makesrocksfloat]

Rey wrinkled her nose. "Usually, it's a good idea to ask first before you agree to do anything. Not everyone's as friendly as the cats. Any kind of quest is probably going to have strings attached."

She wondered why it had been so long since he had whatever it is for his hair to grow out like that.

"--caf? Did you say caf?" Well, now her attention's entirely on him.

ii. Fetchquest

[unphase]

Tinya nearly walks by until she gets a good glimpse at the young man apparently in charge. He looks pathetic in a cute way, like Moonlight after Tinya gives her her bath.

She supposes she can take pity on him and buy a few sweets.

Tinya herself looks a bit odd with her new, dramatic makeover courtesy of the Fox, but she's smiling nonetheless.

"You wouldn't happen to have any chocolates with caramel in them, would you? I'll take chocolate strawberry if you don't."

[ezra_of_lothal]

That's endearing, if just a little troubling. "I don't usually need protecting," he says, a little awkwardly.

"How about we go talk to this person together?"

[ezra_of_lothal]

"Yeah, we had parades where I'm from. Military ones, mostly." On Empire Day, he thinks to himself, darkly. He's not entirely sure which birthday, he figured out the parades weren't because he was born that day. He has the vaguest inkling that he must have, at some point.

"And the town I lived in the last year and half had some scaled down versions of this," he adds, with a shrug.

[blackclad]

A spell. That's odd and while Luke believes in the Force, he's less sold on magic. Still, lacking any better term for it, that might as well do.

"And after that, you came here?"

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"You're from Jakku? I'm sorry to hear that."

There were certain places that you didn't want to be from in galaxy that they called home. Jakku was one of those places. It seemed only right to offer his condolences for however long she'd been there for.

His mind didn't stay on Jakku for very long, though. Not when she was going to make with the compliments. Her reference to Kessel meant she'd either looked him up on the holonet and scrolled though all the more recent entries about him or she was perhaps a smuggler herself. He couldn't imagine any other way that she'd know about something he'd done when he was a practically a kid himself.

"It was a hell of a run." Han murmured with a smile. "Have you ever had to make it yourself?"

[blackclad]

"A very little. I knew you many years from now, but only for a couple days. We had a little time while in transit to talk about the Force and what it was, what it wasn't, and then we parted ways." That's probably the vaguest, and kindest way he can put it.

"I certainly haven't done the formal trials or anything like that. Less theory, more hands-on."

A pause. "Or hand-on."

He raises his right hand and wiggles his fingers.

[ezra_of_lothal]

Ezra smiles, in faint dry humor.

"Eh, not immediately. This is my third - I've seen some people call them hubworld, or nexuses? Don't try to keep it straight; I can barely keep it straight. I think the most relevant thing is-"

He pauses. "How're things back in the galaxy?"

[blackclad]

R2 just has some strong opinions and he would like to express them fluently and with force. You just can't handle his irrepressible joie de vivre.

Also, **** **** **** and the *****.

Ahem.

"I'd walked up from the beach, saw a bunch of footprints in the sand that didn't make much sense, and then there were the lights and, hmm, person-shaped shadows in the distance."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

It was a little undignified to be plucked out of the water like you were a child that couldn't swim, but beggars didn't get to be choosers when they needed a rescue. It was also a little undignified the way he leaned over the side of the canoe and sputtered up some water that he'd swallowed while thrashing around.

It took him a moment to catch his breath and feel comfortable in the boat, but when he did, he managed to be grateful.

"Thanks, pal."

[blackclad]

"I don't really know much about anything pre-Empire. We didn't get a lot of schooling in history where I was, and what we did get was Imperial Standard." So, lies, lies, and more damned lies.

"I only met him as Anakin once, at the end, but that's who he was then." Given how many have suffered, it's cold comfort, but that's the best he can offer.

[blackclad]

"It shows doesn't it?" Luke's smile is gentle and easy-going. He does try to keep his Force signature wrapped up pretty tight, so it shouldn't be too bad. Right? Maybe?

"Fresh off the papple wagon. Wet behind the ears. Or, I don't know what the local phrase for that would be." If Rey doesn't mind, he'll move to shake hands.