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expiationmeme2023-05-29 10:59 am
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.
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?
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What good chickens!! [Compromises.] I guess it's just an anti-person barrier, and not an anti-chicken barrier? Since they could get through just fine.
[Yeah, she figures she's just playing along for now.]
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How pitiful.
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[Well now, that's a little rude! She scoots forward, very gently shifting chickens out of her way, and tries to wave her hand close to him. Where's the barrier?]
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Do not come any closer! Does your arrogance blind you to any sense of self preservation?
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[That is not a normal admission?? But none of this has been normal! She dusts her hands off and murmurs a quiet apology to Scramble, Benedict, Sunny, and the rest as she pushes herself to her feet with a grin.]
I just wanna see where the barrier ends!
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Don't say such foolish things! Stop with your scrutiny!
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But she does stop, clasping her hands behind her back with a smile.]
If you stop being so rude to me, I will.
["Foolish," "weak," "trash," etc.]
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Think of it like a recommendation if you want. It's just easier for everybody if we at least pretend to get along. You're new here, right? I've been around here for a couple months, so I can help you, if you want.
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[Gundam bristles at the question. Of course he is "new," but he doesn't like admitting inferiority to anyone.]
Feh, I see. So in exchange for mere false pleasantries, you shall reveal unto me the forbidden knowledge you have so far acquired?
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[Like, he can think she's weak or foolish or trash or whatever, as long as he doesn't say so. She can't control what he thinks of her! She can only try to influence his opinion through her own words and actions, and part of that she's pretty sure is refusing to take insults without comment.]
What'd you wanna know, Tanaka-san? [And with the minor standoff completed(?), she plops back down the ground and clicks her tongue. Here, chickie-chickie...]
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To be happy with platitudes, with not a shred of truth behind them? We are at an ideological impasse, mortal.
My wretchedness is renown, my evil undeniable. If a false compatriot is what you seek in me, look elsewhere.
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[Not outing Shinji by name, but it's Shinji. Speaking of Shinji, she grabs Shinji's favorite chicken, Scramble, and gives her a bit of a hug before letting her rest in her lap to pet. See, only good people here.]
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Such a foolish question. My mere existence is an abomination. No being can handle me without perishing! My very flesh is a vessel for a most wretched ichor that renders entities to ash with a mere touch.
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[Just. Pointing that out. She's pretty sure she's following like 80% of what he's saying, and just helping him find the logical flaws in his argument!]
Anyway, that sounds pretty difficult for you! [She's pretty sure she doesn't believe him.]
1/2
Give him a moment.
He's recalibrating.]
2/2
Much like Persephone accepting the tainted pomegranate seeds of the underworld, these "chickens" are now bound to me and my dark power!
[That one was solid. Absolutely inscrutable.]
Your opponent is out of your league, do not try to perplex me with such trivialities!
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[Scramble, for her part, is sitting as peacefully as a chicken can, absolutely docile under Kotone's gently-petting finger.]
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...
[Gundam peers over, watching as Scramble sits in Kotone's lap. Obviously the two have formed quite the bond... so perhaps her magic level isn't as low as he first believed.]
Were you masking your power level?
[Scramble... that's a terrible name though. He'll think of nicknames for them all in the meantime. Something far more befitting of being within the Tanaka Empire.]
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Kotone blinks at him and tilts her head. Was she...?] Maybe? What defines a "power level" where you come from?
[Does she have a bunch of mythological deities bouncing around in her heart? Yes. Can she cast lightning from her fingers? Absolutely not.]