expiationmeme | TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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.

info | world

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The behavior of the animals is certainly strange, and Ethlyn has been trying to decide if this ought to be strange for the hereafter or not. Hunting is not one of her pastimes, but she knows that deer ought not to walk curiously up to a human. Nor should chipmunks, squirrels, and songbirds, even if they aren't so often at risk from people.

Ethlyn has managed to avoid picking up any hangers-on, but apparently not everyone has been so successful. She can't help but smile at the young woman who is tring so valiantly to shoo them away.]

Maybe they're just trying to learn the language?

...Can they even understand us?

[Tones, yes, she'd imagine. But that would also imply that one could get away with saying anything if they used the right tone. That might also be a disservice to an animal, however. They're probably smarter than that, right?

...Maybe not the younger ones.]

I thought they might be hungry, honestly, but I don't have anything I can give to them. Don't suppose you've got any food on you.

[Even if she does, they probably shouldn't be feeding the animals either.]

I don't suppose they could... they're woodland creatures, not like dogs or horses.

[She shakes her head, though. Plenty of food around them in the fields, but Ethlyn didn't find anything on her person that wasn't already there... apart from the two slips of parchment.]

They don't seem afraid of us at all. [...she wonders if she ought to open up to this woman a little. After all, if they're both here....] Maybe it's the nature of this place for them not to be.

It's not like we've done anything that would give them reason to be afraid. Yet.

[She's not planning on doing anything either. That seeming comfort and familiarity, however, is worthy of questioning. It is weird that they're not immediately hostile. They're probably not pets. But the town she spied earlier doesn't look so far off. Maybe the people there feed them.]

Or other people come and feed them, which might explain why they're passive if they think we'll do the same. Maybe they're too young to know any better? I haven't really spent much time with animals, so I can't say I know their habits very well.

I've never seen a deer be so bold in seeking attention from people.

[That in particular is hitting Ethlyn as otherworldly. Deer are the quarry of human hunters, and they know it. Ethlyn's never spotted a deer of any age without it leaping away, tail raised to warn its fellows.]

...I'm going to say something that will sound strange. [...] The last thing I remember of--of where I am from--is my death.

[The words taste heavy in her mouth. So strange, to be speaking of it with a tongue and teeth that still feel real and warm, wearing the clothes she died in, but with no sign of injury mortal or otherwise. She has to push through it--she must--to her reason for even saying so in a conversation about fawns and rabbits.]

It's called "Expiation." So... I have been under the impression that this is... what comes after.

[Before she has an opportunity to really continue thinking about animals, deer in particular, and their relationships with people, what Ethlyn says next catches her a little off guard. Whatever Aerith may be expecting, that's certainly not it. The surprise, however, never exactly reaches her expression and it fades quickly, something she can only imagine comes with her own set of circumstances.]

Oh... Uhm. Hm.

[She... looks pretty alive. And Aerith was definitely alive back home. Well. In the laboratory.]

I think some of the others here have thought kind of the same? You don't look very dead to me. And I'm definitely not dead and wasn't before I came. I didn't know the name had any significance. I've never heard it before.

[oh. well.

that... blows her current theory out of the water, then.]

Oh... [This only raises further questions.] I know the word has to do with guilt and atonement. And I did get a slip of parchment accusing me of a crime. That would make sense for the afterlife, I had thought. And in the afterlife, there would be no reason for animals to be timid around us.

...But if it isn't that... I don't have any idea.

[...Hm. That's some food for thought, isn't it? She thinks about her own rolled scroll and the contents that she found on it. She still isn't exactly sure how to interpret her own. Aerith will have to think on it a little more.]

I think we all got those. The papers, I mean. [Parchment. Whatever.] I could also be wrong. I don't actually know what I think just yet. I have about as many questions as you and anyone else here. All I can do is confirm that I wasn't dead back home.

I see. [...] I can imagine a powerful mage being able to transport people from as far away as this seems to be from my home--and yours too, I would imagine. [She gestures around slightly. Truthfully, the thing that tells her that this is not Jugdral is how peaceful it is. It's been a good few years now in which Ethlyn was in a place that didn't show some sign of recent battle, whether in the physical signs on the landscape or the tension of the people who lived there.] But as you say, the rest is still quite a mystery.

I'm glad your situation is different than mine, at the least.

[Aerith follows the way Ethlyn motions and she nods slowly.] Definitely not anywhere near my home. I'm pretty sure. [But it's not as though she really knows or remembers anything outside of Midgar. Sometimes she thinks she can remember mornings of white and the smell of pine. And other times, she thinks there's another feeling of familiarity that she just can't put her fingertip on.]

To be fair, you're alive now, so doesn't that mean anything? You might have passed on where you're from, but it looks like you've been given a second chance. Let's take advantage of it!

[A second chance... Ethlyn hasn't looked at it that way. Immediately, other thoughts begin crowding in. What about Quan? What about Altena and Leif? Is she meant to live happily here, so far distant from them, as they grow up without a mother in a place full of danger and treachery?

But if she's been brought back, or healed of her mortal injuries, or whatever has happened to let her continue living and breathing, then it may also be possible for her to return to them.]

...You're right. [Ethlyn smiles again--feeling now as though she can smile freely.] Anything is possible, so long as we still live and breathe.

Now you're getting it.

[Aerith does struggle with the concept of her own seemingly finite mortality. But even in the face of that, she knows that she can't just let things go the way they will. In a way, maybe she's being given her own form of a second chance. A third, even, though she doesn't quite know how to interpret the events fully from back home.

She looks considerably more relaxed as Ethlyn gives it thought. Her new friend doesn't know it yet, but the two are bonded by something very special. They both will experience something that perhaps is not so common. Through adversity, they shall find strength.]

The hardest part was getting here. Even if we don't exactly know much about this 'here' yet. It's just too late to throw in the towel and I'm afraid I don't take to surrender very well.

[But a tactical retreat is something else.]

[Ethlyn laughs a little. Now that is something they certainly share.]

I've never taken to it very well myself. [She puts a hand on her hip. The more she talks, the more... well, alive she feels.] I don't intend to just accept that I'm guilty of what I've been accused of, either. I'm grateful that I have this second chance--but someone is under quite the wrong impression.

That's the way to go!

[She might be a little too animated, but that's just the way she is. Aerith doesn't bother hiding the growing eagerness in her expression. She's not inclined to ask about crimes another might be accused of as she knows that's incredibly personal. She also isn't particularly inclined to share too much information about herself either. Only as much as she feels that she can.]

With an attitude like that, probably nothing here can take you on. Hopefully there won't be a need to put that to the test. Everything I've seen so far has been pretty amicable.

I did arrive with my sword and my healing staff... so if that changes, at least I'll be prepared for it.

[Not her good sword, the one she was gifted by Deirdre, but still a serviceable weapon. Now that is feeling less like the afterlife, Ethlyn is feeling more secure for having both.]

But you're right, this place does seem... tranquil. [She gestures towards the animals, still docile and curious.] It makes it a little hard to believe that we're going to face some kind of trial, but appearances can be deceiving.

You think there will really be a trial? I thought maybe they weren't being very serious.

[Or maybe it's that Aerith doesn't want them to be serious. She doesn't really understand her crime. Well, maybe a little. But she doesn't get how she's supposed to defend herself against it. Self-preservation shouldn't be a crime. Not when she's pretty sure she has a fairly great purpose that's yet to be fulfilled. How is she to explain that?

Why should she have to? It seems just easier to ignore it for the time being. Maybe a little negligent on her part, but maybe the wiser course of action. Besides, it's not as though she was given a length of time. Maybe that too, means something.]

Or maybe the trial is like a test? They called us their 'chosen,' so it might have to do with that. Proving our worthiness? Although I don't know what we've been chosen for.

I don't know about that. It seemed like a rather serious declaration to me. [Ethlyn's a little surprised to hear Aerith suggest that it isn't, in fact.] But you could be right about it being more of a test than a criminal proceeding...

[She taps her knuckles against her chin. The note was very thorough in ways that were more than a little disturbing.]

It would make more sense--they start out by calling us 'worthy and deserving', after all. So maybe it's not a threat, but a warning? There could be other forces at play.

'Worthy and deserving.'

[Aerith turns the words over in her head, but no matter how much she tries to see them from every angle possible, she doesn't feel any closer to realisation or whatever might be 'truth' in this situation.]

It could be anything, really. Could even just be some elaborate trap.

[Although with maybe more effort than she'd be expecting.]

Probably wouldn't hurt to ask the townspeople about them, though I don't know what kind of answers we'll get there either. [Assuming they get any. It's probably important to develop a secondary plan for anything that might not go the way they plan for it to beforehand.]

[Ethlyn visibly winces when Aerith brings up the possibility of this being a trap. She's had... too-recent experience, and the thought that she might fall prey to another, and without Quan by her side, is not a pleasant one.]

...I hope not, but we should be ready for one. We're rather vulnerable, when you think about it. [Alone in a strange place, brought here by people who know a great deal about them, but who they know nothing of themselves. Trap or not, they must be careful not to let down their guard.] I would like to know what the townspeople make of our appearance here, too. I wonder if they'll be surprised....

[And with all of these considerations, another naturally arises.]

I'm equipped for battle, if the need arises--do you have any skills in combat?

[It's not wordage she'd like to use, but Aerith has a difficult time arguing to the opposite. They are vulnerable. It isn't the most favourable situation for any of them either. Things could be worse, as well. At least it seems like they aren't immediately being attacked. They haven't really been met with any hostilities yet and Aerith's not exactly expecting any.

But maybe that's naive of her.]

Only way to know is to interrupt whatever they're doing, say a hearty 'hello' and wish for the best!

[That probably really isn't the only way, but it sure is starting to sound like the Aerith way and that's probably what she really means.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

Woodland creatures

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