seasonsgreetings | Test Drive Meme #7

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Test Drive Meme #7

Test Drive Meme #7
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Arrival

Part 1

You arrive in an unknown space, dressed in white clothes (player choice what kind of clothes, as long as they cover everything). Whatever was happening to you before no longer happens. It's like everything was put on a pause and you were transferred away from the situation without you realizing it happened.

The space that you find yourself in is one of these four options:

An empty landscape filled with snow and ice, almost like a blank canvas.
A field with cherry blossom trees and spring flowers.
A sunny beach near an ocean that seems never ending.
A quiet forest with falling autumn leaves.

All of the spaces seem to continue endlessly. No matter where or how far you walk it almost seems like you're not moving at all. There are no animals here - just those who happened to wake up there at the same time, in the same place. Everyone is wearing the same kind of plain, white clothes.

Despite the possible rollercoaster of emotions you might be feeling, the place somehow feels familiar. Like somehow you belong there.

And it looks like you're not alone.

Part 2

After half an hour has passed the surroundings change as everyone is teleported into a room with all the other new arrivals, no matter what space they woke up in. It's a large place with plenty of seats to sit in and beverages to enjoy. Medical attention is offered to those who need it and the doctors here are very prepared for any challenging situations.

Here, in this room, everyone gets an answer to where they are and why. A hologram of a man appears at the center of the room, waiting to be heard. He brings a message on behalf of the leaders of Ellipsa.

The Message [ Click to Expand ]

Hello, my name is Olwen. I'm one of the leaders of Ellipsa as it currently is. I'm also one of the four who summoned you here.

Our world is in trouble and we need your help. I apologize for tearing you away from your world and forcing you to come here but I hope you understand. The magic we used doesn't let us ask in advance, nor does it let us choose who we bring here.

This world is composed of four Seasonal Segments. All of them represent one of the seasons. They were the places we used to get our resources from, but now they're dangerous places no one should go into unless they have the power to fight back. All of them have their own sets of powerful monsters and natural catastrophes.

We used to have plenty of people here who could control the powers of the four Seasons. We called them Seasonal Power Holders. Unfortunately, due to a tragedy you can read about later, we lost almost all of them. Now only four of us remain and the world is in chaos. We have done our best to protect the world, but we need more power holders to do that.

That's where you come in.

All of you have been assigned to one of the seasons. Whatever space you were in just now is what season you represent. You will learn different skills based on the season and those skills are going to help you save this world.

These powers don't interfere with your own natural powers. They use a new energy that has formed inside of you. It's harmless to your health, but it's vital to your seasonal powers. Your own powers should still work, even if the dark energy outside the city might interfere with them.

Unfortunately bringing you here wasn't as simple as it sounds. We couldn't do anything about how to keep you anchored to this world other than making a simple spell that helps with it. That is, you need to touch someone else who is not from this world ideally at least once a day. It will help you stay in control of your powers and boost your magical energy. If you don't, the consequences aren't very good. But as long as you hold someone's hand or give someone a handshake, you should be fine.

That's all I have to say about the situation. The staff of the Research Center will give you more information about housing and other necessary things. I will, however, promise that you will be sent home once the situation becomes better. That's the least we can do.

The hologram can be viewed in private in a separate room later, should someone wish to look at it again. For now, the staff of the Research Center hands everyone their new smartphones with their small flower lucky charms (the flower is anything the player decides). They're also told that the building next door is where everyone can find a room assigned to them with some of their belongings there and possibly even any animal companions. Those concerned about their mount-sizes companions are welcomed to the stables downstairs to see if their friends are there. The mounts are allowed to stay there until you find a place more suitable for them.

In the Arrival's hall there are also several stands with information pamphlets.

First type of stand is for the local Guilds and about the benefits or joining one.

Second type of stands is for the Welcome Center that aim to show otherworlders what the world is like and help guide people in the beginning of the journey and helps in getting settled into the new world. They even have people to help if you're unfamiliar with the new phones.

Third type of the stands is for The In Touch Support Group that is led by the Otherwordly Ambassador, Kamisato Ayato. The pamphlets have contact information for businesses looking to help Otherworlders. They also focus more on the lore of the World and what they have discovered so far, as well as a guide on what to think about when preparing to venture out to the Segments.

Once you get your smartphone and necessary information, you're urged to go out and find your apartment. After that whatever you want to do is up to you.

Part 3

The building next door is where everyone can find their new apartments. As you enter, you're told by a friendly native that for the first two months you can live anywhere rent-free and five meals a day are paid for you. After that they get a monthly payment that helps with some of their living expenses, but otherwise they have to have a job to support themselves.

All of the apartments are comfortable, two bedroom apartments with all necessary utilities. They are also completely soundproof. Sometimes the magic system, however, does glitch and you might find yourself rooming with a stranger. This is not the intention and the staff will immediately prepare you your own room if you ask them. But maybe having a roommate isn't all that bad?

Near, Far, Wherever You War

Part 1

Nightwake City is now full of posters for a new place that has been opened recently. The Titanic Dome is accessible with a teleport crystal from any of the Guilds. It's specifically made for those who want a safe place to fight with their powers without worrying about harming their surroundings or others. It also has enough room for giant transformations to fit comfortably.

There are two different arenas. One of them is a private one that needs to be reserved beforehand, but the other one is a public one that has audience seats for those who don't mind people watching. It's here where there's an event going on to celebrate the opening of the dome.

Riki's Rewards has provided a free single dose of the Enlarge potions for anyone to use. These potions give the user a temporary boost in height and general body size (including clothes). Abilities will work the same as in "normal" size, but may appear bigger. When the potion is consumed, all the person has to think about is how large they want to become and that will happen. This limited version of the potion has a limit of 60 meters / 196'10 feet and only lasts for one hour at a time.

Using these potions, people are challenged to a giant pillow fight. All the pillows are very soft and fluffy and won't do any actual harm, but if someone is "defeated" by a pillow they will gain a bunch of feathers all over their body and hair for the next five hours as a silly punishment.

Part 2

There's a scenic route you can also take from or to the Titanic Dome. It's a longer hike: the journey takes three days in one direction on foot (less with horses or snowmobile). The whole route is protected by barriers, so even natives sometimes find joy in just taking the longer route in the wilderness. There are even small gazebos for taking a break and dedicated spots where you can set up a tent.

Of course, sometimes natives do get out of the paths and might need rescuing from wayward winter monsters or wild fauna. Usually it's because something looks shiny and they go to investigate because "what could go wrong with a little visit outside the safe route".

Some of the "shiny things" the natives see are various frozen flowers that shine in different colors. The closer someone gets, the more tempted they are to touch the flower. All of the flowers give a different effect. Red flowers boost the feelings of love and will make someone show more affection towards people, platonic or otherwise, purple flowers make someone want to show their feelings through physical means (even negative, so a punch would also be included) within character's boundaries, yellow flowers will make someone (temporary) fall in love with the first person they see and orange flowers will make someone more giggly and more likely to make jokes, with the possibility to make others laugh with them. All the effects last 1-3 hours.

The flowers will melt after they're touched, only to grow back somewhere else later. They will also melt if they're brought to a warmer atmosphere. If one manages to put them in a potion there and then, they work as a highly potent ingredient in long term love potions.

Flour, Sugar, Egg, Magic

Part 1

All around Nightwake, a special festival is taking place. Even if the seasons are very fixed in all of the districts, they still want to host celebrations according to calendar, like this time: it's a festival to say goodbye to winter and to say hello to spring.

All of the districts have set up bonfires here and there that will be constantly burning. They're not at the centers of the districts, so they're easy to avoid, if someone wishes to. These bonfires are gathering places, where people come to dance and celebrate in costumes that are inspired by both winter and spring. Various masks are sold at the booths, for those who want to get into the mood but don't want to dress up. The masks represent devils, witches, goats, swamp fae, and other joyful and frightening characters.

Otherworlders new and old are also asked to act out the battle between winter and spring. One of them will be dressed up as winter: big sized (additional pillows stuffed in clothes if necessary), wrapped in various furs. The other one will be dressed up a spring: a scrawny person in much lighter looking clothes. The only advice they're given is: make it dramatic and let the spring win in the end!

Part 2

Another important part of the celebrations is the pancakes. All districts have booths where people can either make their own pancakes or buy from others. There are various different toppings and fillings that can be added, as well as warm and cold drinks to enjoy them with.

Some of the districts may have slightly different views on how to make a proper pancake and what can and cannot be added to it. Especially the winter and spring related districts are constantly bickering over whose pancakes are better and will shamelessly promote theirs in the others' district. It seems Coldreach is the only one that falls in between their silly argument, considering it's in between the two seasons (and the alcohol they serve there might also have something to do with the peace).

Inspired by the friendly (?) competitions, a new mini event has appeared! It's called the Pancake Tours! The goal is to visit each and every district to taste each of their pancakes and rank them. This all doesn't need to be done on the same day, at least. Those who complete the tour and bring the results to the Research Center will get a spell that will make anything taste good, even things they would normally hate the taste of and 2000 Moon Coins.

Part 3

Attracted by the smell of pancakes, a new creature has appeared in the city. These relatively small creatures are called jellycats, due to looking like cats that have jelly-like shells protecting them. The shells wiggle everytime they purr and they can retreat back into them whenever they're uncomfortable. Despite their appearance and name, they're not edible.

Jellycats come in a variety of colors and smell different to each person. A yellow jellycat, for example, may smell like lemons to someone, but flowers to another, depending on preferences. The scent becomes stronger the more a jellycat likes and trusts a person.

Befriending these creatures is rather easy: they really like anything and everything sweet, which is why the pancakes attract them so much. It is also likely for a jellycat to follow someone home.

OOC TIPS

- Ask your questions related to the TDM here.

- The TDM is available only to friends of the mods and their friends. If you want to play in the TDM, please leave a note here to inform us who invited you over. We will get to you as soon as possible.

- Test Drive is open for current characters to make a top level as well. New characters can add TDM on their subject line to indicate they're new!

- Current characters cannot access the starting area again to meet new arrivals. They can, however, be at the Research Center when the newbies are teleported in.

- The TDM is game canon so anything in the TDM can happen for your character(s) in the game as well.

- Smut is not allowed on the TDM. You can play situations leading to it, but if the thread is turning into smut, please move it to a private space such a post in your character's journal, or a locked post in the game's log community if you decide to app!

- Check Locations: City to find more areas to explore inside the city. Every place in the districts are open.

- Similarly, Locations: Segments is useful for outdoors adventures.

- You can find monsters to encounter on Beastiary.

- FAQ has information on characters' smartphones as well as general things about the world that might be handy.

code bases by tricklet

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Lucifer blinked. Oh. This took a turn. He cleared his throat and nodded. Fuck. Okay. You can recover from this.

"I understand that. A build up to lust. Romance. I admit, I enjoy romance myself. It's enjoyable for someone to court rather than attempt lustful conquest. As my friend would say, it's about the journey to Pleasure Town. Not the destination."

How did they get here? Anthem felt her entire body heating up, her tail stiffening slightly as she walked.

"Pleasure Town." Okay, that loosened her up a bit. It was funny enough she couldn't help but laugh quietly into her hand. "Your friend is correct. Sex can be enjoyable, but I find it more so with a partner I have come to adore rather than one that will- oh. What was the phrasing - hit it and quit it?" nailed it. "Though I am sure my preferences for romance are irrelevant to you. I share the same sentiment, is all." Courting good. Leaping directly into bed less good, not that she judged anyone for it either way.

Maybe she will need a drink on this pancake tour. Thank god the table with ale was right within reach.

Lucifer smiled and relaxed some himself. Okay. This wasn't going in some strange romantic direction suddenly. Like, who just throws in romance options when you just meet someone? Unless it was a prostitute in a brothel, I mean.

"Ha! Well, perhaps we can be the wingman for each other. That's a thing. In case either of us goes off looking for romance! Hahaha!" He laughed but his hand moved to the ring on his finger even still. They arrived a the table with hardy pints of ale and delicious pancakes filled with maple syrup.

"And here we are! Let's dig in!" He needed to keep his mouth busy so his foot didn't end up in it.

Anthem was a rather blunt woman with a sense of humor that sometimes needed work, but at least Lucifer seemed to recover from the potentially awkward turn.

She noted the ring with a sideways glance, unsure how to perceive it. Either a nervous tick, a longing for something, or someone was clinging to something long since gone. None of her business either way, she supposed.

"I cannot say I would be much of a wingman, but I will keep you in mind." She offered, immediately snatching a pint and downing half of it like that wouldn't be a problem in a few minutes given her absolutely atrocious tolerance for alcohol.

Lucifer smiled and did the same. He drank down half the booze and started to dig into the pancakes. He hummed and finished his mouthful. There. That gave him plenty of time to re-center and gather his thoughts. He chuckled.

"Oh come now. A strong self-confident woman like yourself? I am sure you would be fantastic. And I may lure in men and women who may be willing to flirt since they'll likely be taller than me. It is a common mortal trait, so I've heard."

The portions they offered were absurd. Anthem methodically cut out a small triangle, examined the oozing syrup, and then popped the forkful into her mouth with a contemplative hum.

"Being taller than you?" She was, clearly, but she hadn't really put much thought into it. She didn't much care about things like height. "I do appreciate your... enthusiasm? I am dreadfully boring for most though, being a wizard and a scholar. Although the tadpole in my skull might be an interesting talking point." Said with scathing sarcasm.

"Why thank you~" Lucifer said. He was going to describe the odd obsession some tall humans had with trying to steal the prospective partner of a shorter man but then she mentioned the tagpole.

"I'm sorry. You have a what in your skull? A...tadpole? How did that get in there?"

"A mindflayer." She said blandly. The tadpole had been oddly quiet and significantly less squirmy since her arrival in Ellipsa. Not that she had very high hopes it would stay that way forever. "They are - mm. One moment."

She reached into the pouch on her hip and rifled around until she produced a small bit of fleece that she rubbed between her thumb and index finger and then blew on it. In a poof it vanished, and in its place was the small image of a partially see through Illithid, squirming tentacles and all. "Their tadpoles will usually transform their hosts within moments. My companions and I have been wandering for weeks with them, searching for a healer to aid us after they were forcefully shoved into our skulls through our eyes."

Lucifer blinked. He leaned in to squint at the image of the Illithid. He tilted his head as he took it in. So this thing would put their offspring in another being to transform them into one of them? How disgusting. He gently poked at the illusion with his finger. Just to see if he could actually touch it. Then his eyes shifted to Anthem. He looked into her eyes and saw something in one of them. Oh.

"Disgusting. These creatures. Hmmm. It looks like it should be easy to just pop out but if you've been looking for weeks, I'm sure it isn't so easy."

His finger went right through the image. She wasn't wasting spells on conjuring anything beyond the simplest illusion for the trash that was a mindflayer. She let the image drop, took another long drink, and stared at him.

"Many have suggested as much, but the results have not been favorable and the methods less so. Sorry-" a beat. Like she just realized something. "You can see it?"

"Unfortunate," Lucifer said with a nod. He took another bite of food. "I can. A little. It's in there, right behind the eye. Ugly little thing. All teeth and tentacles. I do hope it doesn't itch."

"Not quite the response I was hoping you would have." She said almost bitterly. No one ever had an answer. She finished her ale, her vision already slightly blurred. She was so going to be drunk soon. "Hurts, sometimes, if I'm near others with a tadpole. We can see into one another's minds and share our thoughts. It is... unpleasant."

"That sounds very unpleasant. I could...try. To remove it. But I don't know anything about it. It would be more brute force than finesse. I don't want to cause you any harm," Lucifer explained and let the smile fade away.

Anthem sighed. "No, but... thank you. I can't imagine just ripping it from my skull would work for you either. There is some manner of magic protecting it." And this was getting sad. The tiefling shoved another piece of pancake in her mouth. "Sorry. You did not come to hear me complain. The pancakes are good, though."

"That's fair. And it is alright. It is something that matters greatly to you. I would be surprised if you didn't want to bitch at least a little bit. You have the right," Lucifer said as he took another bite.

"They do. Warm. Fluffy. Full of flavor. Honestly, I like Winter's more than Springs."

"I do, but foisting that upon a stranger seems a bit much. I try to at least be semi-reasonable to those that have been kind to me."

She nodded her agreement and took her notebook out to jot down some notes. "It is a wonder you are not sick of pancakes if you have tried them all so far."

"Not possible. I'll never be sick of pancakes. They're delicious and perfect for any meal." Lucifer said with a chuckle.

"I mean, if you can't confess to the Devil, who can you confess to?"

"I can't say my fondness for them is so intense, but they are not the worst of meals."

She snorted. "No one, I suppose. You are not going to start trying to bargain with me if I do, are you?"

"Oh heaven's no. I have no need to make a deal with you. And I am sure you have no real wish to make such a deal. If you ever decide you want to, feel free to reach out. If not, that's quite alright."

"You're far less pushy than Raphael, at least." She said with a vague hint of amusement. "Regardless, it is all just... whining, on my part. I had finally begun to succeed when those damned mindflayers too me aboard their ship and infected me. Now I'm - well. Now I'm here, I suppose, being asked to save the world when I am already in the middle of attempting to save my own."

"Glad I am," Lucifer said with a nod.

"Look. Everyone needs to whine sometimes. It isn't a bad thing. People say it is but they're wrong. And being in this situation must be trying for you. At least, perhaps, if these beings had the power to pull you here, they may have the power to send you back to the time and place you arrived from. So you miss nothing. You're not letting anyone down. You can put those worries out of your mind."

Anthem reached for another ale, knowing damn well how poor a choice that would be.

"Great." She drawled. "Now I must play hero twice. Would that they could simply send me ahead of time to where all is said and done - and I am either dead or the world is as it should be." What a fucking downer. "Thank you, though, for allowing me to speak. We should move to the next course." Just let her chug this beer first and wobble when she stood.

"That tends to be the fate of heroes. But you're not alone here. And I hope you aren't alone back in your world," Lucifer said. He put his hand on the small of Anthem's back to help steady her.

"Perhaps eat another pancake first. Then we can go to Summer," Hopefully the heat there would help sober her.

She could whine and moan for hours about how she didn't want to be a hero, but it wouldn't get her anywhere and she doubted Lucifer wanted to hear it.

"Ugh." She huffed, flopping back down to take another bite of her pancake. "I told you I was a cheap date. Foolish me trying to drink my sorrows away."

"Everyone tries to find the solution to their problems at the bottom of a bottle sometimes. Or a barrel whiskey. Dealer's choice," Lucifer chuckled.

"But it won't be there. Still, it can feel like it helps in the moment. As for being a cheap date, it's a good thing the festival is free. We're both being cheap dates."

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CW: vague mention of eyeball stuff

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