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expiationmeme2023-01-23 02:02 am
TEST DRIVE MEME #1
Welcome to the TDM for Expiation, a pan-fandom adventure game with fantasy, science fiction, and sometimes subtle 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. 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.
You may find the below links helpful in getting to know themes of the world, locations, the people, and so on.
A WARM WELCOME
The journey here has not been a particularly convenient one. The last thing you can recall is the room of blinding white and the incomprehensible voices that were speaking about you. Then came the dropping of the floor beneath you and suddenly you were falling into black. As you come to and regain a more clear vision of the world about you, you find that you are surrounded by pleasant greenery.
Deciduous trees are sprinkled here and there in some miscellaneous fashion. There are plants and flowers all about, the chirping of birds. Above you rests a fairly clear sky with a dotting or two of clouds. The sun is pleasant. Overall, it’s comfortable. Perhaps too comfortable.
MEADOWLANDS ARRIVAL
Within eyesight, though you can’t possibly know the footing distance, there appear to be fields. A portion of them dedicated to long stalk vegetables and the rest a neatly organised collection of leafy greens. Upon closer inspection, you’ll find that some of these look ready to be picked right away. Not much further past the fields are other buildings. Simple in style and not at all grand in structure or make. There’s people, too. It looks lively. The locals will tell you that you’ve set foot in Aldrip.
Not far from you, in fact relatively close if not in hand already, is a rolled parchment bound by a rather nondescript twine. If you unfurl it, you’ll find a generic welcoming message addressed specifically to you.Welcome to Expiation. We, who have found you so worthy and deserving, have declared you to be one of the Chosen.
The cryptic written greeting is followed by a collection of recorded statistics—physical and mental attributes, along with other observations about your person that clearly weren’t made by you (but may not necessarily be inaccurate).
Nearing the bottom is a peculiar line—You have been charged with ▬▬ and in accordance with the doctrine of this world, you have ▬▬ until you will face your sentencing. Prepare your defence adequately or face the repercussions.
In spite of that strange little addition at the bottom, which may or may not make sense to you, you’re not the only one arriving in the meadowlands. You have some options. Maybe check with a nearby fellow otherworlder, scour the fields, meet the locals. First impressions, after all, can sometimes last a lifetime.
WILD COMPANIONS
The collective of newly-arrived aren’t the only ones exploring the meadowlands. Curious about the various sounds created by those not native to the world, there are animals living in and near the surrounding areas drawn to the attention. Different types and sizes of birds and beasts or other creatures that may resemble ones from your home world begin to close in on your location. Do they mean to do you harm or are they only simply wary about who you might be and what you’re doing?
Some of them are incredibly friendly, especially if you’re inclined to provide them with food, or if they’re younger and they simply don’t know better. But be aware, for every young animal, there is likely to be a parent not far behind, and less inclined to be understanding of your strange fate in this new predicament. As such, no matter how cute something may be, reconsider taking it with you, else you may simply stir the ire of their families.
If you find yourself in a position where you’ve inadvertently stepped into a territory not meant for you, you’ll need to find either a strategic escape or resort to force and self-defence. Fortunately, some of these larger, more aggressive beasts, are much the same ones that the locals in Aldrip have been seeking to cull for the safety of the citizens. Maybe you can make some fast friends with the Expiation natives by bringing them something you’ve had to put down.
THOSE WHO WERE THERE
Those Who Were There are what the locals refer to their gods as, considering them responsible for their continued growth in the world, the abundance of their crops and sea life, the greenery that surrounds them, native wildlife, and some of the strangely advanced luxury items that make their livelihoods a touch more convenient.
You’ve arrived at an opportune time. Although the peoples of the continent freely show their appreciation for their higher beings, every once in a while, they celebrate by way of joyful festivals, grand songs, and more expressive means of their devotion.
FESTIVITIES
Aldrip seems to be a bit busier than usual, with a little more foot traffic than what may be considered a normal day in the life. There’s music in the air provided by lutes, panpipes, and the dulcet tones of men and women alike, expressing songs and tall tales of those they have come to revere as celestial beings. They believe that honouring their betters can be done with song and dance as much as it can be with offerings and prayer.
The town is bustling, a plethora of additional street stalls selling all kinds of local cuisine, jewellery, weapons, and accessories branded with insignias that represent the same wave motif as can be found on the charms every newly-arrived will receive. There’s raucous laughter, a plethora of drinks (alcoholic and non) that are passed along merrily to those wandering through if one doesn’t have a drink already. It’s the perfect way to integrate yourself with the people whilst taking in the celebration.
A portion of the town has had the land cleared, set up with a minimalistic coliseum ring for archery competition and one-on-one combat. Winners of these exchanges don’t get anything grand, but are presented with plenty of free food and drink, and some may even be awarded with some modest badge accessories from the local shops for providing the people with some sport.
Out by the fields, closer to the shoreline of the Talion Sea, there’s a grand pillar of fire that’ll burn all through the day and into the dark of the night where more music follows and accompanies spirited dancing.
SENTIMENTAL OFFERINGS
If you’re searching for a momentary reprieve from the bustle of the festival, there’s a modest walkway of cobblestone that will lead you from the main streets of stalls, drinks, and making merry. Following the way it winds and curves will eventually take you to an elaborate display of dried flowers, jewellery, fanciful cloths, and other items. Some of these hang from nearby trees. Some are draped over an altar fashioned of dark wood.
A local who spies you there kindly explains that it’s a place to leave items of offering for Those Who Were There, as gratitude for all they have granted their loyal people. They also explain that the more sentimental attachment you hold for the item you give up, the more pleased the gods will be with you. What does that mean, exactly? It’s difficult to say, but it seems that it might endear you to the locals at the very least.
Those who leave an item will receive a noticeable wave-like mark on the interior of their dominant hand wrist, almost as if it’s a brand of some kind. This is temporary mark and will only last the length of the festival, but if locals see it, they will be more inclined to give information on the land, the people, and perhaps even extra drinks, food, or shop wares.
Even if you don’t leave an item, as you’ve only just arrived and you may not have much on your person, the locals won’t punish you or think ill of you. It’ll give you a chance to gather yourself before you go back to the festival proper. If you choose to go back at all. The relative quiet is so welcoming, after all.
THE GLITCH EFFECT
NO SIGNAL
If you’ve arrived in this world with a mobile device or something akin to (notebook, laptop, and so on), you’ll find that whilst there are no electrical outlets, there are slender and flat platforms available to keep items of this nature with a charge. You cannot connect to a network and there’s no signal for a connection to grapple onto. That said, programmes that don’t require a connection to be of use (note taking applications, calculators, games), are still operable.
You may find, however, in the use of these programmes that perhaps images are not displaying properly. The colouration may be inverted. There may be unexplainable lines drawn across graphics. Text may not accurately be presented, instead a jumble and tangle of letters, forming what looks more like a mass of verbal tendrils across your screen.
Bizarre and strange sounds may emerge from your device, sometimes a low hum that may be indiscernible to others. Sometimes a high frequency that lingers in the air. It may be just a flash of sound. It may be several seconds long.
Furthermore, it is possible that you may find strange imagery imprinted on the screen temporarily, even where there should be no graphic at all. It’s there for a moment or two before it fades away, almost as if it’s subliminal messaging. The strange imagery is difficult to make out—a highly detailed eye, or perhaps what appears to be an angular face. No two images will be the same, though some may hold some eerily similar depictions.
This strange happenstance will occur periodically until the festival reaches its conclusion.
STATIC BUZZING
Don’t think if you didn’t arrive with a mobile device or related that you’re free from some of the strange electronic phenomena. Devices that are native to Expiation will experience similar errors. The difference is that the devices as a collective (personal computers, printers, cameras, the platforms for charging devices, and more) will emit a fluctuating and repeating frequency of sound cycling from high to low. Some will be able to hear it, some will not, but for those who do, it will come accompanied with a static buzzing sound, as if a connection somewhere is on its last proverbial legs.
There isn’t a means to stop the sound from emerging without depowering the device in question and even the locals don’t seem to know what to do. There are several devices strewn about Aldrip, however, so even if you should unplug one, there will be others expressing the same assault on the ears. Aldrip’s people don’t seem particularly alarmed, however, explaining to those who ask that this sort of thing simply happens every so often, and should they but have faith, Those Who Were There will handle all things ‘in good time.’
Unlike the personal devices brought in by newly-arrived, the electronic devices of Expiation will not display incorrect / jumbled graphics, text, or bizarre flashing images, which may be considered a blessing in disguise, despite having to experience the potentially annoying hum. This strange occurrence, too, will mysteriously end once the festivities have drawn to a close.
kamui uehara | no more heroes | jigokucho crau
[Kamui Uehara always jumps eventually. This time, he reasons, will be no different. For as much as he's changed between the last point and this new point in space and time, he's always moving-- constantly borne along to wherever he's meant to be next. This is fine. This is normal for him; more normal, frankly, than a long-term gig in Hell.
But it doesn't make it not abrupt. It does not rid him of names, and places, and faces he'd held close. It hasn't rid him of the concussion, either, which certainly isn't helping. The man's still bandaged up, in fact: from the look of him, he could've used another day in the hospital, minimum. As is, he's a mess of half-healed scrapes and bruises, shambling aimlessly through the vast and verdant field. The lush greenery, the bright calling of birds, and the clear blue sky only serve to disorient him further, and Kamui clenches his fist tight around a roll of parchment as if it'll keep him tethered to this world. Or to waking, maybe.
He walks forward for a few moments, then pauses. And then, a marionette with its strings cut, he sinks to his knees in the tall grass, staring down at his parchment with a distant look in his eyes.]
I'm alone again?
2. festival/offerings
[Thank god there's healers here. Once a healer's scraped him off the ground and dealt with the worst of his injuries, Kamui drags himself out to the festival. When that proves too overwhelming for his splitting headache, he escapes the bustle and heads to the elaborate altars on display.
No sooner than he gets the explanation for the offerings does he drop a lapel pin on the nearest table. Surely there's some sentiment in leaving behind the gangs of hell once at for all-- and, if not, at least he was polite about leaving something behind.
It's well worth it, in the end: Kamui winds up with a mark on his wrist and... a lot of free stuff. Too much free stuff, actually. He eventually settles with all his loot somewhere at the edge of the festival, overlooking the shoreline-- and at the sight of someone who also looks a little out of place, he approaches and drops something into their hand.]
Here. From the festival.
[Maybe it's some bread. Maybe it's a funny little hat. Either way, he has no need for it and needs to lighten the load.]
3. static buzzing
[Once Kamui flags down someone who doesn't look like they're from this world, he pulls out a blocky, 00s-era cellphone, holding it out to them to see.]
You see this too, right?
[After a few moments, the glitches take hold: the screen wobbling, a split-second visual of an unblinking eye. And then, his phone screeches out a high-pitched whine, low, but audible, irritating as a mosquito hovering around in one's ear. For his part, Kamui barely flinches. This has been happening for the last fifteen minutes; he's unmoved.]
I'm trying to look for a pattern in the images. Could you tell me if you see anything strange?
wildcard;
[drop your own starter, or hmu here or at
2. 🥖
After both standing and milling about, observing locals and the seeming-others both, eventually, even just people-watching in the midst of all the noise and revelry was too much. Seeking a quiet that wasn't heavy with beatific, sacred expectation, he finds one better, a measure of solace with the shore as backdrop.
A nice enough view that he's mostly able to ignore the surly stirring of hunger. Realistically, if no one's yet been dropped by a drink or morsel, it's either safe to consume or something to regret later still. Much later.
Just as Nanami decides on the hour, set by his watch, that he'll take the wide lack of reaction as sufficient and get something to eat — a hunk of bread drops, easily caught with a reflexive twist of his wrist.
He blinks.
Stomach lurching with interest, he frowns anyway, looking at the other man. His haggard, wrung out appearance doesn't do much to soften Nanami. ]
You shouldn't assume a stranger wants whatever strange food you've gotten from a strange festival.
[ Not that he's giving it back. ]
no subject
It is all free, though.
[He doesn't sound judgmental, or sarcastic. It's a statement, a flat monotone:] I'm saving you the time of going to get that bread on the other side of the festival.
[Because that makes strange food from a stranger okay, right? If you're all getting it from strangers...???]
It was pretty good, I just had too much of it. If that helps.
no subject
By pretty good, by too much, he suggests that there isn't anything wrong with the bread. He also suggests, doubtless unintentionally, that he was dumping his leftovers on the first guy he saw. It's — irritating —
not really, not really irritating. Nanami turns the bread in his hands, presses a thumb light into the crust, flakes already catching on his trousers. He isn't the sort of man who lapses into snap reactions, whose emotions leak, fog up his head. Which is to say, dismissing the relevance of free, hearing self-satisfaction where there is none, taking excess to mean trash — irrational, pointless, digging for something to criticize when the facts haven't presented a thing plain.
Maybe he's hungry, maybe he's at a loss, maybe even he hasn't been able to put aside before so impassively.
Whatever it is, Nanami sighs, lifts the bread in acknowledgement. ]
Yeah. Thank you, then.
[ Taking a bite, rather, tearing a chunk with his teeth. After swallowing, ]
You got quite the haul.
no subject
[It'd been his first mistake, once-- another other world away and a few months back. At least he hadn't died in Jigoku-cho from that, just been momentarily embarrassed: but he's more careful now, that's for certain.
Either way, the other man lightens his load, and that's all that matters. When Nanami looks up from his reverie, Kamui's smiling politely back at him.]
People are very eager to give at festivals like these, I've found... It's all part of the celebration. [It also helps that he looks a little worse for wear right now; people do tend to take pity on a lonely-looking guy still sporting a few bandages.] It's a good way to get the lay of the land, too. I assume you've just arrived as well?
no subject
[ Though it seems illogical to poison the food — why poison fish caught within the net? — assuming good intentions from a smile, toward new people freshly accused of crime, would be foolish. (Having been reticent and, what certain of his colleagues would have called, his usual stick in the mud, he hasn't gotten enough information from the merrymaking locals to glean their relaxed attitude toward "sentencing").
Even if whatever happened to his body was ultimately meaningless, why invite discomfort or worse?
On that parenthetical note, this guy makes a good point — it's simple common sense that participation tends to make other people more communicative. He just isn't the kind of man, particularly coming from where he had, who throws himself haphazardly into the unknown. ]
It's stating the obvious, but you assume correctly.
[ Not that it's impossible he'd been around longer, but ... look at him. ]
Have you learned much about how the land lies?
no subject
He doesn't trust it. He also did not trust Hell. Wherever they truly are cannot be determined so simply by just looking at it. Idle, he taps his chin.]
Not very much at all. To state the obvious some more, we certainly aren't anywhere near a 21st century Japan-- as I was, originally. [And, tilting his head, regarding Nanami carefully:] And possibly you as well?
Kamui Uehara, by the way. [He inclines his head respectfully.] I'm a detective, of Tokyo's 25th Ward. [And with a curious expression, he straightens up again.] I've been told not all Tokyos have that one.
3.
This is what catches his attention.
He reaches out to take it from Kamui without even asking, frowning at the patterns]
My tablet reacted similarly.
[That's all he offers as an answer to Kamui's question--and as Brain is staring at his cellphone, Kamui will be able to see the screen change. Apps open and close, then the source code appears on the screen, and starts scrolling through.]
This is an old Operating System. [he sounds annoyed about this, and the tone of his voice very much suggests that Kamui is An Idiot for having such an old phone lmao]
no subject
[GOOD, Brain, that's what he wanted!!! He peers over the other man's shoulder, and his eyes open just a little wider as he sees the source code fill the screen instead of the usual apps and menus. At least someone's technically savvy enough to try something new. Every fifteen seconds or so, the source code is broken by an intrusive image-- that same eye, most frequently-- before returning to the lines and lines of code Brain's obser ]
It is. It's from 2005, the same as me-- the last world I was in was closer to 2022 though, I think. What about you?
no subject
What do you mean?
no subject
[He turns away, eyes scanning their decidedly not-so-modern surroundings: definitely not the 21st century here.]
What year do you remember it being?
no subject
no subject
My last 'point' was a world where I and others from many worlds were conscripted into service by powerful yokai in order to pay off a debt.
[He was in the yakuza, in "hell". But that is probably a little less believable.]
Whereas I'm originally from the 25th Ward of Tokyo in 2005. That's what I mean.
no subject
So you are claiming to be someone that travels to different planets or to different universes.
[he sounds SO doubtful right now]
no subject
Universes. I think you'll find that I haven't really got a reason to lie to you now.
no subject
2/3 WHOOPS
Oooow, ow ow ow!
3/3
Your phone shocked me!
(no subject)
static buzzing
What is that? It sounds like it's dying. Are you sure you really see things?
[ It doesn't look like writing as he knows it, but he's never seen a screen before. All Wen Kexing knows is that this device--it has to be a device--is unusually solid. ]
Does it open? Maybe something is inside it.
no subject
[A look of concern crosses his previously-impassive face as Wen Kexing holds the phone aloft; he doesn't make a move to take it back, not yet, but he does take a step closer, holding out his hands in case his poor phone slips out of the other man's hands.]
It's a cellular phone. [Kamui's brows knit together. Those robes are telling.] A device for communicating; it isn't supposed to open up or have anything in it.
[A beat. He has seen stranger, though. Maybe that fresh idea would actually prove something?] You know... There's a small latch on the back that'll allow you to remove the battery. We might be able to see if anything is inside it.
no subject
Does it carry messages? What makes it run?
[Part of him wants to test this thing to see if it will transform into a flying mechanical bird, but Kamui seems already uneasy enough by the fact he's holding it. And Wen Kexing is also easily distracted. As soon as he hears "latch" and "remove" he's already flipping the phone over, ready to take the casing apart just to see the inside... which, once he does open the back, is a little disappointing for him. Another solid box?!]
Will it explode if you throw it?
no subject
A telephone is a device that converts speech to electrical signals that are carried from one destination to another, permitting a long distance conversation. Usually, this takes place over wires or some other form of communications technology. That, [he gestures to his cell,] is a cellular phone, which is a portable version that can be carried with you in your pocket. For these, signals are transmitted wirelessly through large radio towers.
[And, good, he opened the thing just fine. Kamui reaches to take his phone back, turning the device and battery over and over: nothing, it seems, is wrong, and there is nothing unusual about the phone itself.]
This runs it, by the way. [he says, holding up the battery.] It won't explode unless you heat it up to a very high temperature on purpose.
no subject
It sends signals? Like writing? All right, how far can it send them? I need to send a message out of here and let people know where I am.
[Mr. Magician, do some awesome tricks for him.]
Do all of those things work the same way? How many do you have? I'll buy one from you.
1!! late but hi danni
[The voice comes from above at first, before the speaker squats down in front of the wounded man, to meet his eye level. There's no hint of concern in neither his tone nor in the crooked smile crossing his face. The latter which is anything but reassuring.
And his next words, spoken in a quiet whisper, only serve to add to that notion.]
It seems you're already halfway dead anyway, so I wouldn't mind lending a hand.
3. static buzzing
[Hythlodaeus would admit that being flagged down, in this world so very full of strangers, is somewhat surprising. Until this very instant he had been quite content to flit about the festival as a moth would- drawn to each and every one of the impressive storefronts, never lingering too long.
But far be it for him to ignore someone's request. He approaches as bade, and when Kamui digs into his pocket, he cannot help but raise his eyebrows.
Not at the glitches, of course. Not yet. More the fact that the blocky chunk of plastic in the stranger's hands is so very unrecognizable to him. Yet as the glitches start...]
Goodness. That is rather irritating....
[Oh, he half wishes he could request that the other man shut the device off. Yet he stares at it for some time, his eyebrows furrowing more and more at the visual and auditory overload.]
I do think I see an eyeball. ...As for a pattern, I cannot say.