expiationmeme | TEST DRIVE MEME #3

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TEST DRIVE MEME #3

TEST DRIVE MEME #3

Welcome to the TDM for Expiation, a pan-fandom adventure game with fantasy, science fiction, and some horror elements. We ask that top-level comments are reserved for new characters and players looking to experience a taste of the world and overarching storyline. Characters already in the game, however, are free to use TDM prompts in their own catch-alls and logs. Feel free to submit any TDM / prompt-related questions to the corresponding comment below.

New players / characters looking to app are free to use TDM threads as samples in their application. Preexisting players / characters may use TDM threads as part of their AC proofs (with the stated limitations).

You may find the below links helpful in getting to know themes of the world, locations, the people, and so on.

info | world

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN...

BRAVE NEW WORLD (ARRIVALS)

After receiving the paper with your sentence, the whole world quickly becomes dark and you find yourself falling through what seems to be an infinite void. You lose track of time after a while, but as soon as your focus seems to waver, your vision clears and you find yourself resting rather unceremoniously in a pile of seeds used for chicken feed.

Once you make your way out of the grain silo (and we of the moderator team wish you good luck in finding a fun way out of it), you may find that several other people have been dropped into the world just like you have. Some are disoriented, others are panicked, and others yet are simply angry about being brought somewhere against their will. Amidst the chaos of new arrivals to the world of Expiation, the newcomers will find that there are some people in the crowd who seem a little more familiar with what’s going on.

These people will tell you that you find yourself in a strange new world, and that it’s best to make your way to a nearby town called Aldrip to get settled down there. It’s a few hours by foot away from this area, but it’s the only place in the nearby area that can accommodate newcomers like you.

WE LIKE TO PARTY (WE LIKE, WE LIKE TO PARTY)

Recently, many Chosen have emerged victorious from a hard-fought battle, taking out a gargantuan creature that threatened to suck the energy from the whole area surrounding Aldrip if it had not been stopped. Such efforts do not go unrecognised, and in the aftermath, the locals all decided to band together to celebrate their saviours’ heroics. Nothing less than a village-wide party and parade would be fitting for such an occasion.

This is an undertaking that will likely take a significant amount of effort. While the locals wanted to make this into a surprise, many of them lack skills to put the thing together properly. Chosen who want to get involved in the preparation process can put their organisation and culinary skills to the test to create fixtures and food for the event. Better yet, your efforts over the past months have improved supply routes into Aldrip, meaning that the food shortage has passed, and you’ll have just about anything your heart desires for the occasion.

Alternatively, you can choose to enjoy the spoils of your efforts! Once the day of the party arrives, Aldrip will erupt into a full-scale celebration, and all Chosen are encouraged to party as hard as possible. Good food, good drinks and good times will be in no short supply for the occasion. Additionally, those who took to the front lines in the previous event will be revered as heroes and likely spoiled rotten.

THIS IS HOW YOU GET ANTS

PLEASE PARTY RESPONSIBLY

It’s no understatement to say that some of the Chosen like to party hard- and that’s quite alright! A few days ago, the people of Aldrip had already set aside a few rooms in the inn to act as an infirmary for those who had been injured during the battle with the Branded. It took little effort for them to expand this project into a full medical wing for those who would undoubtedly be acting irresponsibly during the festivities.

It’s up to you to decide what circumstances brought you here. Perhaps you were injured in the previous battle, and have been stuck in bed as you recover from your wounds. Maybe you had just a little too much to drink, and you decided to come by while you collect yourself. Regardless of what your reason for being there may be, the people of Aldrip have guaranteed that you will receive the best of care.

With that said, the place is terminally understaffed. Aldrip’s locals will certainly appreciate any assistance they can get- even if your character might not have the best training or bedside manner. Medicine can’t be that hard- what’s the worst that can happen?

MR. MAGNIFI'S MAGNIFICENT MIXTURES

Once word of the upcoming celebration spread, several individuals from outside town came in to offer their services or goods in Aldrip. One such individual came into town riding on a rickety cart with the words “Miraculous Magnifi’s Medicine! Guaranteed to heal what ails ye!” emblazoned in gold on its side. The thing smells a bit off, with a strong chemical scent coming from the back, but the moustachioed man who emerges from the back assures you that all of his “mixes are made with meticulous ministrations!”

Those who buy and consume the potion might find themselves feeling strange over the next few days as symptoms emerge. Some people wake up to find that their hair has taken on a rainbow of colours during the night, that rats cuddle up to them for no reason, or that their irises have been replaced with strange spiral shapes. Feel free to come up with inventive but harmless side effects for the miracle elixir- it’s meant for some good fun.

They’re strange symptoms for sure, and certainly not the advertised cure-all. However, Magnifi is already gone by the next dawn, meaning that no one can get a refund. Thankfully, the symptoms will go away after a few days, but the chaos that ensues in the meanwhile will certainly make for some fun stories.

IT'S NOT OVER

♪♫ LET IT GROW ♫♪ ► (FUTURE EVENT TIE-IN)

The party celebrating the dread beast’s defeat can be heard from miles outside of Aldrip, but the situation is not quite yet resolved. Much of the once-lush forest outside of Aldrip had its life force absorbed from it, leaving little more than profaned ground and an overwhelming scent of rot. Worse yet, there are reports that some of the beast’s severed golden tendrils have taken on a life of their own, creating snake-monsters that threaten the local wildlife.

However, the monsters are not the only new arrivals in Pessiria Forest. Those who go to investigate the area will find that fairy-like creatures have gathered in the profaned land and are trying their best to help bring the area back to its former glory. At first, they seem to keep their distance or ignore you entirely, but after determining that you mean well, they inform you that they can temporarily bless the Chosen with the power to make full-sized plants burst forth from the seeds they plant into the ground.

It’s still going to be hard work. Even with the power to bring plants to life, planting seeds in the miles of dead forest will likely take a very long time. Still, these strange fairies could use the help, and tough jobs can be better if you bring a little help from your own friends. (Or enemies. No one’s going to judge you for who you bring.)

WHAT'S THAT MYSTERIOUS LAUGHING SOUND?

The process of regrowing the devastated part of Pessiria forest is well underway, but the process does not go entirely smoothly. Partway through the process, locals start to report that they can hear a strange girl laughing in the forest in the middle of the night, but no one seems able to track down its source. Curious Chosen can patrol around the forest at night to try and figure out the mystery.

Those who are particularly sharp-eyed might see a faint spectre of a little girl wearing a straw hat dancing about, but she never seems to stay in sight for more than a few seconds. One blink is all it takes for her to vanish.

You probably won’t be able to catch this strange spectre, but it’s become something of a game among the villagers to go looking for her anyways. Some say that seeing her is a sign of good luck, and wave to her before she disappears. Others say that if you see her while holding hands, it will bless you with a lifetime of good love. Almost all of these assertions are probably nonsense- but what will you do about it?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ "Sort of exciting" isn't how he'd describe it, but that does track for Dazai. As does the offered bottle, which he'll take a moment to look as though he's inspecting when he's busier with his own thoughts than whatever the label might have to say. ]

I have a feeling that would annoy everyone involved out of their minds.

[ He refills his own glass, smile slowly tugging at the corners of his mouth as he holds it up towards Dazai as if for a toast. ]

Let's do it.

(if sigma described dazai as infuriating, that most likely means dazai probably liked him in the depths of the games they were facing - but this made him definitely confirm said hypothesis. the smile he returns is smug, perhaps obnoxious, but definitely pleased as he clinks glasses and allows the liquor to slide down his throat.

the beginning of a beautiful friendship!!!)

Ah, you're a good one! I'm definitely making up a million situations as we speak! Have you managed to meet the others yet? Or am I your first?

[ Clink! Here's to a second chance in less immediately dire circumstances.

Maybe. ]

Gogol beat you to it. Very promptly, at that. He was one of the very first people I spoke to here.

Ah, poor you! He's been in a mood, Nikols, so...! I bet he was like, twice weirder! Poor you, poor you, welcome back to the house of the normal!

(population: sigma.)

He did seem...bothered, by something. [ By what, he's only got a few clues to go off of, so... ]

Do you know if anything's happened?

Ah, yes. Big monster with mind control powers would make someone erratic, I'm sure. I'm not going to lie to you, you'll hear about it as soon as you start poking around.

Ah.

[ "Mind control powers." That'd do it. If that's the case he doubts he'll ever hear the finer details directly from the clown's mouth, but it's also a handy warning to ask about the big monster incident as a whole elsewhere. No sense in agitating Gogol any further if it can be helped. ]

People have been eager to sing the "Chosen's" praises for all they did. I wasn't sure how much of it I could take at face value.

Oh, we worked super hard! The ones who were not afflicted, that is! Ah, I suppose you know what my ability is? I only have two hands. My back still is killing me, and he still hasn't gotten me new shoes! I went to the battlefield barefoot and all because of him! Ah, it was a lot of work...

(he'd hear it anyway. dazai surely put everyone he cares about in his room and played nurse and doctor and didn't sleep whatsoever. he's still very beat, everything still hurts and aches.

not that he'll show that particular bit of it, not right now, not to the same extent.)

[ A battlefield with mind-controlled enemies, presumably more than one of them being ability users in some way, shape or form? As far as Sigma's concerned it's incredible Dazai's back on his possibly injured feet in a week after something like that.

He offers a gentle (and cautious, should the touch be unwelcome) pat-pat on Dazai's shoulder. ]

If that's the case, no wonder they're throwing you all a party.

It was a whole thing! It seems over now, but I don't expect things to be like this for long at all! We'll see what it has in store for us. It's a challenge to predict when it's not at all like our world, I have no base.

(which in itself is a hardship for him, he can't predict if there's no pattern so far for these sorts of events.

he doesn't mind the patting, though.)

Ah, so kind. I thought, like Nikol and Fyfy, you'd attempt murder on me!

If mind control monsters and mysterious disappearances are a taste of what's to come, I'm not feeling optimistic.

[ Nice of the place to give them some peace before anything else crazy starts happening, though. He'd at least like to be well rested when he has to deal with his next crisis. ]

I'd really rather not, if it can be helped.

Ah, and you shouldn't! What was your crime, anyway? So far, it's been zero about crimes, a lot about everything else!

(dazai, you can't just ask people what their crimes are?)

Ah, then, by all means, don't, I have plans!

[ With only a little bit of shame, ] Counterfeiting.

[ Dazai's no doubt already aware of some of the more heinous things the Decay has done, which Sigma may or may not have had a hand in, so a crime that sounds downright tame in comparison isn't too difficult to admit. The specifics of it may not be too tame, but...

...At least he's hoping that's what it's referring to.

Throwing back the rest of his glass at that thought. Moving on. ]

And you? That parchment's only supposed to list one, right?

(dazai knows, and to him, the parchment is not so in touch with the reality of things, considering his own. he sort of wants to laugh, so he does so, shrugging his shoulders as he tells sigma the absolute truth:)

Ah, mine called me a hoe. It's just 'womanizing'.

(swear to christ.)

[ The look Dazai gets for that is. Dubious. ]

That's a crime worth kidnapping and sentencing?

Right? Sort of silly, isn't it?

(he's in mersault?????)

Please tell me that's an isolated incident.

[ The silly crimes, he means. ]

Some are silly, some are real, some are awfully personal, like they're poking at your trauma! Interesting, isn't it?

So there's no rhyme or reason to them? At all?

Is 'mischief' a good reason?

(guess who had it.)

It's a reason.

Bad reason, Counterfeiter.

Says the womanizer.

Oh, maybe it is a crime. Although, honestly, I'm in Mersault for good reasons, so I wonder if they just put every bad thing I've ever done, and rolled a few dices to get my crime!

Ah yes, I trust the judicial wisdom of a dice roll.

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