Test Drive Meme #12

[seasonsmods]

Test Drive Meme #12
LOGS | NETWORK | OOC | MEMES | NAVIGATION

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 staff nearby tells them that the message has finally been properly updated from the original one that can still be found from the records.

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. We wouldn't have resorted to it if we weren't desperate. Our world has lost the majority of power holders who kept the balance in our world and dealt with the dangers of the Segments. Just having one power holder for each Season isn't enough. That's why we have summoned you to become the new Seasonal Power Holders.

This world is composed of four Seasonal Segments. All of them represent one of the seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. 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 have recently managed to regain some footing in the segments and made them safer, but there is still a lot of work to be done. The Darkness still plagues our world, but we are constantly finding ways to fight back.

Otherworlders like you have already made great differences to the world. They have managed to find and free the dragons who in turn helped us expand the area we live in. They also managed to find the Fairy Queen and even the Mermaids and Sirens of the Great Ocean Lake are at peace due to the efforts of a few otherworlders. All of these things we couldn't have accomplished with just four power holders.

My sincere wish is that you would join us in working towards saving this world. We promise to send you home afterwards, or enable a way to travel to your world and back, as a compensation for your efforts here. You're even free to stay here, if that suits you better. This world can also be yours.

I know we're asking you a lot and that it might be hard to trust someone who just talks as a hologram, but you are always free to approach us at our guilds to talk in person.

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-sized 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 of joining one.

Second type of stand 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 a stand has various pamphlets about businesses opened by otherworlders.

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 a room of your own. But maybe having a roommate isn't all that bad?

NOW KISS

Part 1

Among the holidays adopted by Ellipsan natives, Christmas is one of the bigger ones. However, they have opted to calling the celebration the Yuletide season. The streets of Nightwake, no matter what season the districts falls to, are decorated with different kind of holiday ornaments and lights. The Yuletide, for Ellipsan natives, is viewed as the season of love, affection, closeness and new beginnings (which is why the celebrations continue into January).

One of the classic decorations is, of course, mistletoe. They're placed on very strategic places both inside buildings and outside. This year there are also small helpers. The small-sized fairy bunnies (bunnies with fairy wings and cute ribbons) fly all around Nightwake and bring mistletoes over to pairs who seem like couples to them. Sometimes they will also hang around very sad looking people and try to get them a kiss.

These bunnies can be easily bribed to leave someone alone or to pick a specific target by giving them dandelions to snack on. It's also likely that they will stay around after they get tired of carrying around mistletoes (they can't even nibble on them since they're poisonous) and just sleep on someone's lap or shoulder. They may be messengers of love and affection, but they need breaks!

Workshops have been made around the city where people can make evergreen beds for the fairy bunnies to show their appreciation. These beds they can both sleep in and snack on. The same workshop also instructs people on how to make evergreen wreaths to hang on doors that will bring good luck for the next year.

Part 2
While some of the more modern districts have opted for using electric light displays, some of the more traditional ones like Sunwaning and Dayrise have opted to using natural fire for ambience. The streets are filled with candles of different shapes and sizes. There are even magically floating candles making shapes of christmas decorations in the skies.

Everyone is also provided with free candles to encourage sitting at home in only candlelight. The candles are special and will fill the room with nostalgic aura that will make them feel like they're in the most comfortable place for the people in the room. If their house is already that, there's little to no change. However, the candles will also bring loved ones around as illusions so everyone can spend a night with the people they love.

These illusions can be people that have died or just people who aren't here in Ellipsa. However, illusions can also show someone who is in the world, but just not in the room (or maybe even while the person is in the room, in case someone hasn't confessed their feelings). They will act like the person they know and they can even be physically touched. There can be as many loved ones joining them for the night as they want.

At the end of such an evening with the candles, everyone may find an item from home that has magically appeared for them. Basically, it's a free regain of either magical or normal variety and may or may not be related to the people they saw as illusions. The candles only have one use in them and even if they got new ones, they will only get one item.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Part 1

A group of students from the Magical Manor wanted to bring snow into every district, including the summer ones, for the Yuletide celebrations. So they combined their magical knowledge and power to make spells that make snow less likely to melt in hot weather, and tasked strong adventurers to bring in snow from Frostreign and the Winter Segment.

They didn't realize that the snow would include small beings called Snow Sprites. They're balls of ice with wings that go around and cause snow storms happen in small areas. Now these sprites have been woken up from their peaceful sleep and are causing a havoc around the whole city, making it snow where it normally shouldn't.

In a way this was great! They're bringing snow everywhere without anyone needing to carry it for several districts. On the other hand they're not stopping anytime soon. Judging by the screams coming from the Solarpeak beach, the bikini season is on hold. Some of the kids love it and some of the shops are taking an advantage of it by selling warm clothes in places they normally couldn't.

The students are asking for people to help with the sprites. The best way to make them calm down is by singing something for them. The more singers in a group the better. Another way is to make it into a dance competition. The Snow Sprites love dancing, so they will even stop the worst snowstorm to join in.

Part 2
There are several activities inspired by the Yuletide season. All of them promote cleansing the body of the old year and starting anew.

During sunrise hours, each district has a dedicated spot for sunrise Yoga. A moment to relax in the quiet morning hours and doing yoga together with miniature alpacas. The alpacas will act both as if they're doing yoga as well, but also as a distraction by bumping their bodies into people to demand attention. The point is to relax and let negative energies flow out of the body, so there's no shame in just petting an alpaca for the whole yoga session.

The skating rinks are back on every district. Everyone is encouraged to try skating in them to let all their bad feelings out through a dance on ice. This is done with enchanted ice that will promote positive feelings when skated on. Of course, it may not work on everyone, but skating is also fun, so maybe that's enough.

Those who aren't so into sports can participate in one of the artistic workshops, where bad feelings are expelled through different art forms. There are rooms where someone can just paint the walls by throwing water balloons full of paint at them or just quiet spaces to draw, sketch or read. The staff encourages the visitors to write and paint bad feelings on paper, as the paper will help channel them out and leave a more pleasant feeling behind.

The same effect can also be made at the Underground Mall and the Virtual Reality booth, where the games have been selected to promote tranquility. The access is free for games that are feel good. Additionally there's also a very realistic virtual game of power washing that is sure to relax anyone who feels satisfaction of seeing something cleaned with full power.

Part 3

Evenings in Nightwake are designed for the purposes of new beginnings. Various places offer a chance to think about what people want to set as their goals for the new year. They're also advised to look back into the current year to see what they want to carry with them to the new one.

All things that people wish to forget or leave into the past are written on paper and then set on fire. Meanwhile their new wishes, also written, are stored in a box they can take back home. Whenever a person feels lost they can look back to the box and remember the night.

Those who want to make a bigger display of leaving something in the past can also load their papers into fireworks and blast them off.

OOC TIPS

Summary of the prompts [ Click to Expand ]

Arrival
• Characters appear in one of the four seasonal spaces, depending on what season they are
• After half an hour they are teleported to the Research Center lobby and given information
• Hologram of Olwen (Winter Guild Leader) plays, explaining the situation
• They're given their smartphone-like device and told about the Starter Apartments next door
• Possibility of finding a roommate!

NOW KISS
• It's Yuletide season
• All of Nightwake has been decorated festive style
• Mistletoes are back, this time with helpers from fairy bunnies who carry mistletoes to people
• They are easy to bribe

• Candles are offered to everyone
• The candles have a special effect of making the room feel as comfortable as possibly
• It can also create real-feeling hallucinations of loved ones for one night
• Next day those who lit candles will receive a free regain


Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
• Students of the Magical Manor are arranging snow for all the districts
• This in turn wakes up the Snow Sprites who will cause snow storms all around
• To calm them, one must either sing for them or challenge them to a dance battle

• Yuletide activities are happening all around
• Including: miniature alpaca sunrise yoga, ice skating, artistic workshop, virtual reality gaming
• Focus is on letting out negative energies and feeling, letting in positive ones

• At night, things people wish to leave to the past are written on paper and either burned or put onto fireworks

- 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

Comments

[roundandaround]

Hm... It's been just about two years, so what do you want to know? Like from the beginning? We were brought here because the people of Ellipsa were really desperate and the only thing they could do was take people from other worlds, so a lot of people were mad about getting kidnapped, but other people were like "this is better than home anyway," and even more people were like "not again," because I guess getting sent to another world is really common and this one's way less dangerous than a lot of them! Even though it's still dangerous, that's why we have quests and stuff.

So we all kinda got settled and did things like move into the starter apartments and go shopping for house supplies and start learning our season magic, and Mami-chan held this huge welcome party the next day! Oh, Mami-chan isn't here anymore, but a bunch of us who first arrived are. Sometimes people just disappear when they lose their connection to Ellipsa. It happened pretty soon after to my first roommate, Shion-chan. I came home from a party -- different party -- and she was just gone, I looked everywhere! I guess the other places like this one had that happen a lot too.

But a couple weeks after we first got here, the four guilds opened up because there were finally more power holders to use them! They held this whole big opening event and everything, we got to explore and learn dances and spells and sign up for our guilds! Oh, are you in yours yet? Have you seen them? The quests go through the guilds too.

[metaloverlord]

[This is a lot of information to sort through, but that's good. What Neo Metal Sonic needs is information.]

I have heard of these guilds and the benefits they can offer those who join them. Tell me more of these "quests", though; what do they entail?

[roundandaround]

[And that's just the first two weeks.]

Oh, any otherworlder can take quests! There's usually some in the city and there are plenty more out in the segments. People come to the guilds wanting help with something, and then we fix it. Usually it's stuff like "there's a new dangerous monster in this area, can you go fight it" or "something needs fixing" or "go to this far-out area that's not safe to travel to and bring back this thing" or "protect the barrier around the city," but sometimes businesses add promotional events to the quest list for some reason. But you get money, and sometimes you also get to keep the stuff you found!

[metaloverlord]

Interesting. Is this what most people spend their time doing?

[roundandaround]

A lot of it, but we don't just do quests. There are all kinds of fun things to do in the city! And people have other jobs and stuff, or school if they're young enough. Oh, and training! And learning more spells! At that same workshop, we learned a whole bunch of item enhancement spells! Or I guess most people did, I only managed to learn one. I should probably go back to the others, come to think of it.

[metaloverlord]

It would seem they were not exaggerating about magic, then.

[Ugh. Neo prefers things that make sense like logic and facts and statistics and the Chaos Emeralds which are definitely not magic, don't worry about it.]

Those who were brought into this world are capable of this magic, however? What spells have you learned?

[roundandaround]

Oh, yeah! Like this one to enhance stuff with defensive power!

[Rinku demonstrates on the nearest object... congratulations on your wish box now being much more difficult to destroy.]

It only lasts about a month, so I have to keep reapplying it to my armour when it runs out.

[metaloverlord]

Fascinating. I would test it out for myself, but I'd rather not risk any damage without the means to repair it here.

[He's going to have to find a workshop or something to ensure that he's working in peak condition... But that's a problem for future Neo.]

Did it take you long to learn of your magic and how to use it?

[roundandaround]

Hm... I think some people learn it faster than others? I took a long time to learn my seasonal powers and spells at first, but I got a lot better when Neechan started training me. And some people already had powers like that, so they already knew how to start learning.

Saya-chan said something about it "calling to a place within yourself." Like feeling something close to what you're trying to make happen! Especially since every season has feelings that make their abilities stronger. Here, you try!

[Rinku makes a flame appear above her hand to demonstrate.]

[metaloverlord]

[Neo Metal Sonic does not need to blink, and yet that is exactly what he would do were he capable of it. That sure is a sudden flame in her hand, wow. Impressive.]

I am a robot; I have no need for feelings and thus do not have them. Relying on feelings to channel magic will not work for me.

[...this is blatantly untrue but neo is an idiot and has yet to realize that he feels a lot, actually.]

[roundandaround]

Really? Aww... But isn't there some part of you that wants something? Try thinking of that! Maybe you'll create something then!

[metaloverlord]

My desire is better suited to destruction than creation.

[Though even calling it a "desire" is a bit misleading... It's just what he does. It is who and what he is.

...But she's clearly trying her best to help so after a moment Neo holds out a hand and concentrates. He's not entirely sure how to wield this into magic, but he is attempting. Unfortunately, he is thinking about murder, so this is not going to result in anything happening whatsoever, but An Attempt Was Made.]

[roundandaround]

Huh... maybe it was the wrong emotion. There's different ones for every season.

[Rinku makes the fire disappear and scratches her head.]

That's okay! I'm sure you're gonna learn all your powers! Oh, yeah, you wanted to know more about what all's happened in the past two years, right? Is there anything specific, 'cause that's a lot.

[metaloverlord]

[A shame it isn't that easy, but then it isn't as though this is his own power. Magic is a different beast entirely. The topic change is appreciated, anyway.]

Narrow it down to the major events, then. It sounds as though these power holders have accomplished quite a bit during this time.

[roundandaround]

Yeah, really! Like, hm... Oh, after we all got settled and were doing stuff like fighting giant trees that drink your blood and throwing mayo at flying cabbages, a couple months later, we were supposed to test out machines in the Mecha Hangar. It was this huge event! We got to team up and do stuff to test our bonds because the mechs are supposed to be piloted remotely by two people in sync, and we got to build models and make them fight each other, that was fun! I still have mine, actually...

Oh, but then when we actually tried to control the actual mechs together, we kinda got into each other's minds and started seeing each other's memories, which was mostly kinda fun but some people's memories were messed up or sad. Oh, there's this one meadow outside with flowers that do the same thing! But back to this one, I guess. The mechs wouldn't leave the hangar even when we did it right, and the researchers said something was wrong and they had to stop the experiment.

Then there was this big light and all these monsters from people's homes showed up! And also a bunch of mosquitoes? They were normal, but no one likes mosquitoes. Fragment of the Universe-chan was really nice, though, I wonder if Neechan would bring them over for real? Their song was cute!

[Rinku. Rinku, that's because you're immune to mind damage.]

Anyways, I guess the monsters weren't real, they were data that came to life after reading stuff from our minds, but we still had to fight them if they got dangerous, and most of them were. Oh, and that was also when the portals started popping up and people were wandering into everyone's memories! That was actually pretty scary, thankfully we managed to fix it.

They pushed the mecha project back after that, I guess it still needed some work so nothing would go wrong again like it did then. Actually, they've kept pushing it back ever since. It must need a lot of fixing, either that or they're worried, huh?

But after that, there was this whole thing where the gangs in the middle of Nightwake -- those guys are really dangerous, they invent all kinds of stuff to hurt people, if one of them has a fancy jar you gotta run or get it away from them, okay? But they got a lot of people with this magic experiment that turned people into monsters! Like all kinds of monsters! It even stuck for some people, just as an alternate form, but not everyone. Neechan was kinda mad that they didn't get her, she said she wanted to be hot. But thankfully it doesn't usually happen now, but you still sometimes hear about it happening, so be careful! Actually, I don't know if it'd work on you. You can't really inject a robot, right?

And, huh... okay, then the thing with Saya-chan happened, and Summer Solstice, and we made flower crowns for fairies, and Yoi-chan had that really cool summer party for everyone... I gotta think.

[metaloverlord]

[This is so much, but it is truly fascinating. A world where magic and technology blend together to form all sorts of troublesome and dangerous events, with people coming together to work to overcome the odds... Well, it does sound somewhat familiar, in a way. Although there was a distinct lack of magic involved in his Metal Overlord form, thank you very much.

Neo listens curiously to all of that, mentally filing away the useful information for later.]

You are correct; it doesn't sound as though it would work on me. Still, I do appreciate the warning. It would seem that there is much this place can inflict on those brought here, either intentionally or otherwise.

[The manipulation of memories... What would that look like, exactly? Seeing another person's memories and having a new insight into their thought process... how curious.]

It seems as though you have still enjoyed your time here despite some of these difficult times.

[roundandaround]

Yeah! It's been a lot of fun! Mostly. Some of the quests are pretty tough, and then there's the enemies who started showing up. It started when monsters started appearing in the city one day, even though the dangerous ones are only supposed to be out in the segments! This guy called the Doctor brought them in with a gun that makes portals. He got arrested after a whole bunch of other stuff happened and we tracked him down to an attached pocket dimension. Oh, we can use those pocket dimensions now, except there's some that are locked and the Research Centre's looking into it!

He's not the only one, either. There was the Scientist, who kidnapped people to feed to this science project, the Vampirebear, in an old haunted mansion. And the Wizard, who kidnapped the Fairy Queen and started a war between the mermaids and the sirens. There's more out there, too. They all work for this one guy, the Pierrot, and these cultists called... what's their name again? Nightshade! They follow him too and are trying to help them all spread the Darkness again. We've never seen the Pierrot, but we know he started the Tragedy of Greed.

[metaloverlord]

[Ah, so the enemies they need to face in order to save this world.]

What is the Tragedy of Greed?

[roundandaround]

It's the reason we're here. Let me think, I gotta think of what I know... Okay, so 15 years ago, there was a royal family running Ellipsa, and one of the princes -- I think his name was Louis -- had a mentor called the Pierrot. But the Pierrot talked him into this weird magic experiment to put all the seasons' powers into his body instead of just one. It killed the three people whose season powers he stole, since your powers are tied to yourself. Some stuff happened, the world went out of balance, and his powers went berserk. The prince's family found out, but the Pierrot took him and ran off into the jungle.

I don't really know what happened to him after that. Maybe he disappeared, but some people say he couldn't handle his powers and exploded, and that's why part of the summer segment is all burned up? Which is really scary, so I guess that's why they say it, but maybe it really did happen that way! There were other followers of the Pierrot who died after they took more than one power, too, all over Ellipsa. Then other power holders started dying, too, until there were only four left. I know that part's true, we met some of their ghosts -- they made the blizzard that used to be blocking off the Great Frozen Falls.

Then the Darkness started moving in. It changed the animals and people and monsters, which is why so much that lives out there is so dangerous now. Even the weather got more dangerous. This city's protected by a barrier, but there aren't many people living outside of it. Aside from the other groups we managed to help out over the past two years, like the dragons who live in the winter segment, the fairies in the spring segment, and the mermaids and sirens in the Great Ocean Lake.