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expiationmeme2023-08-06 09:08 am
TEST DRIVE MEME #4
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.
You may find the below link helpful in getting to know themes of the world, locations, the people, and so on.
AS OF AUGUST 2023: We have decided to reduce the waiting period for new updates / canons to two months. So if your canon is two months old, your character is appable as of now.
The last thing you recall is waking in a room of blinding white light. You hear voices around you, speaking in muffled tones; you get the distinct impression that they’re talking about you. And you’re on the verge of figuring out what they’re saying, you’re so close...but then the floor drops out from under you. You’re falling into blackness.
You come to after falling through this dark void, and when your vision clears, you find yourself on a…beach? Many wake up covered in sand, but some wake in the shallows of the ocean, too. Surf’s up!
IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN...
SAND AND SALT (ARRIVALS)
After dusting off the sand (or drying off with a towel, if they had a really rude awakening), newcomers to the area find themselves greeted by the locals and directed to the city of Aldrip, where they can find food, shelter, and dry clothing, should they need it. There's mention of an inn, though some mutter that it's getting a little crowded, so maybe characters should find a roommate or make nice with the locals so they can crash on their floor—at least temporarily. Once they're in town, they'll notice that there is plenty of construction going on: building materials everywhere, half-finished structures waiting to be finished. Maybe you won't be sleeping on the floor for too long, after all.
Those who choose to remain on the beach will find the locals setting up for something that looks like a festival. Colorful tents are anchored in the sand, filling with strange-looking goods, delicious-smelling food, games, and other activities. Locals call this the "Festival of the Sun," a celebration of the hottest days of the summer, where crops begin to swell bountifully and the seas become warm and refreshing. The festival has not yet begun, of course, and there is plenty of opportunity to help out. Chosen who wish to lend a hand will find themselves enlisted to help set up or decorate tents—or even to run some of them, if they're so inclined. Grab the balloons and streamers! (Or…colored scarves and flowers, maybe.)
FESTIVAL OF THE SUN
The festival kicks into gear in the afternoon, and there are plenty of activities to draw attention. There are boat racing competitions and a sandcastle contest, as well as a grand seashell hunt taking place on the beach. All of these are free to enter, and the contests offer prizes both for participation and for winning. Participation prizes are small tokens of memorabilia: seashells, shark teeth, dried flowers, things like that. Contest winners will find themselves gifted a refreshing treat or a free meal.
Other tents boast all sorts of different games, food, and trinkets for purchase. Merchants will accept coins or other goods in exchange, but if you find your pockets empty, they may also have to help work the booths if they need a well-earned break. Better get to work, and don't forget to give your most winning smile!
Later in the evening, the locals light a bonfire and host traditional songs and dances as the sun begins to set. All clean-up work will be left until the morning; according to Those Who Were There—the locals' patron deities, apparently, though they offer little information about them—it's bad luck to work this evening after the sun sets.
THIS IS ECOLOGY
MAKE A FRIEND
It seems there have been new additions to Aldrip and the surrounding areas. Even the locals are surprised to see large, flightless warking birds now charging around the meadowlands in packs, not to mention the cute piglets with bunny ears and other strange animals that seem to have appeared. There’s even something that looks like it’s made of rock roaming around–its bark is worse than its bite, though. You may even find that if you befriend them, you can ride on them.
Most are harmless, but Chosen may find a few more monsters than usual roaming the area, too. It seems best to be careful—especially after dark and in the forest, when some of these creatures feel emboldened to roam a little closer to civilization.
[[WILDCARD: Players can use anything from this post to interact with! It doesn’t even have to be the ones we mentioned in the prompts.]]
STOP AND SMELL THE FLOWERS
It's not just animals that have begun to appear in the area, either. Strange new flowers and plants seem to be cropping up everywhere, as if this is a normal habitat for them. Most of them don't seem harmful, although some of the vines can be a little…aggressive. However, getting too close to some of the flowers and mushrooms could give someone a nasty surprise. This is particularly unfortunate because the locals seem quite interested in the new additions to their town, encouraging the Chosen to investigate and acquire samples.
The pollen from these new flowers isn't normal, so Chosen won't find themselves sneezing too much. Unfortunately, they may find it has some other effect on them, such as sleeping, confusion, temporary loss of sense (sight, touch, taste, etc), powerlessness, forgetfulness, or inability to speak. While these are all examples of effects the pollen might have, this is certainly not a limitation. Just about anything you can come up with—within reason—is fair game.
STRANGE MACHINATIONS
A PILE OF JUNK
Ask the locals, and they'll tell you all about the recent trip to the desert, including how several of them were rescued and owe the Chosen a debt of gratitude. While they're repaying this debt mostly by way of helping with building projects, they've also brought back piles and piles of…broken technology. Mostly tablets: dirty, sandy, scratched up, and missing critical components like batteries and chargers. They've very kindly piled all of these things in the eating hall at the inn, and anyone who wants to check them out is welcome to do so. It's possible that cleaning them up and matching them up with their missing components will activate them, but you may have to sift through a whole pile to do so.
But activation does not necessarily mean they're in perfect working order. They may randomly beep, as if pinging off of certain locations, or make strange static sounds if they're turned on for too long. Some of them seem to ping off of each other, too, beeping more quickly as they're brought nearer to the other tablet they seem to be paired with. When connected to the pair, they seem to stabilize a bit more. Not enough to find anything of value in the system itself, but characters might find that they can now text each other, play one of the games, or send pictures on a local network.. After about ten feet of distance, they fail again and aren’t able to be used on the local network.
GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT
Whatever happened to the locals at the beginning of the month seems to have passed—mostly. Every so often, Chosen might notice the locals acting a little strangely, stopping what they're doing for a second as if they've forgotten something, repeating something they've already said, or even flickering in and out of existence.
These experiences are minor, but Chosen might notice some other oddities popping up occasionally. Some animals seem very…odd, at a glance, like a fox that has two tails or a deer with three eyes. Look again, and you might think your eyes were playing tricks on you, because they appear normal. Fish with transparent scales, plants that change color—these are examples of the occasional oddities Chosen might encounter.
They might also sometimes hear strange noises, particularly at night. Beeping or static like the sounds coming from the tablets could easily wake a person in the night—as can the sound of a voice, perhaps even a familiar one, luring Chosen out of their beds and away from the town. The source of these voices is a mystery, and they always seem to stop before characters get too far, but you'd do well to be careful after dark.
You know the drill–this is the wildcard one. Just because it’s not listed in the prompts above does not mean it’s unavailable as an option. We encourage you to do whatever you’d like to utilize the setting to its full potential. If you have any questions about what is and is not possible, please don’t hesitate to ask!
Click to view:
| CANON | CHARACTER/TOP LEVEL |
| Arcane | Ekko |
| Arcane | Silco |
| Critical Role | Mollymauk Tealeaf |
| Digimon | Mimi Tachikawa |
| Final Fantasy X-2 | Paine |
| Fullmetal Alchemist: Broherhood | Pride |
| Honkai: Star Rail | Dan Heng |
| Land of the Lustrous | Phosphophyllite |
| Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story | Mitama Yakumo |
| Marvel 616 | Quentin Quire |
| Omnicient Reader's Viewpoint | Han Sooyoung |
| Persona 1 | Naoya Toudou |
| Persona 2: Eternal Punishment | Kei Nanjo |
| Persona 4 | Yu Narukami |
| Persona 4 | Yosuke Hanamura |
last updated: 8/16/23, 10:55PM
festival fun — b
If you stare directly at the sun, your eyes will hate you. [ She raises her eyebrow, interested in what kind of scheme is in the works here. ] What kind of a scam is this?
[ She might help if there's a chance of making profit... ]
no subject
Not a scam at all, Miss! The lottery has been a staple element of the Festival of the Sun celebrations for over twelve years now, entertaining adults and children alike!
[ Which is something she learned like, thirty minutes ago and has absolutely no way of verifying whether it's true or not, but hey. The locals are eating it up, so as far as she's concerned, it might as well be. ]
As today is all about expressing our gratitude for the Sun that shines upon all with no exceptions, it's only fair that our lottery does the same! While the main prizes include such luxurious rewards as a week-long vacation in a lovely seaside cottage or a private cruise at the sunset, there are plenty of other ones, too. And the best part is, every entry is guaranteed to win! Rest assured, you will not leave this place empty-handed!
[ That's right; it's worse than just a scam.
It's a gacha. ]
no subject
You don't look much older than this gacha scam. [ Let's call it for what it is. ] Was your first word ever spoken gacha?
[ She's been acting so nice that it makes Sooyoung want to push her buttons a little. ]
no subject
I'm afraid I don't remember that, so I can neither confirm nor deny it! But I like to think it was something closer to "Thank you for your patronage, we hope to see you again!"
[ She's joking, of course, though the people who know her might agree that's not an impossibility. ]
no subject
[ Sooyoung isn't unleashing her teasing full force and at this point she's not sure if she wants to. It's just not as fun when someone smiles and says something nice in response instead of getting worked up. ]
Anyway, I want one lot. In the name of supporting scams that will hopefully make the locals get addicted to gacha.
[ It's a given that she's going to get some useless junk but whatever. ]
no subject
Thank you for participating! Please draw the ticket and let me know what number you got~
[ Even if her client might not be the most enthusiastic one, the girl keeps up the positive energy ─ or perhaps even doubles it to make up for the tough crowd. ]
no subject
[ Mitama looks like a resourceful girl, so she probably knows that... gacha exists in every single world in one form or another, after all. Enough talking—Sooyoung draws the ticket unceremoniously and peeks at it to confirm the number. ]
It's 51. What did I win? A ticket back home?
[ She can feel in her bones that's not happening, though. ]
no subject
[ After all, Mitama isn't the one who spends money on gacha, she's the one who empties everyone's wallets
like she did with mine. Regardless, she lets out a small giggle, covering her mouth with her hand as she does. That would be quite a reward, but the woman is aiming just a little too high with that one. ]I'm afraid I can't offer you that, but... [ Mitama grabs the bell sitting on the table next to her and rings it in celebration. ] Congratulations! Your prize is... this original seaweed bookmark!
[ She presents her with her reward with enough regard, one would think she's handing Sooyoung some sort of crown jewels. ]
Make no mistake ─ while it's not made of precious gems, it's just as exquisite! Crafted lovingly by hand using local resources, the pattern on this bookmark is unique to each one created, and you won't find another one like this anywhere!
no subject
Huh? [ The announcement truly feels like she's got the main prize, but it's just a bookmark. While Mitama is giving her little speech, Sooyoung shoves it into her pocket without even examining it. ] That's a very nice way to describe trash, I'll give you that.
[ In the meantime, some of the locals step in to check what this whole lottery thing is about. Some of them are even willing to try it! It's Mitama's time to shine. ]
I bet this next dude will win something even worse.
no subject
[ Mitama is not even remotely discouraged by Sooyoung's less than favorable response to her prize. But there are new potential clients approaching, so she excuses herself with a polite bow, so she can attend to them for the time being. ]
Thank you again! Please enjoy the festival~
[ And she turns to the other visitors, giving them her trademark smile and the sales pitch for the lottery. It doesn't take long until they're giving it a shot and drawing their lots. Once again, Mitama happily rings the bell to announce their rewards. ]
Congratulations! Your prize is... a ticket that you can exchange at the local restaurant to receive a luxurious, five-course meal for two, completely for free!
[ ... Well! The locals seem overjoyed with what they won. As she presents them with said ticket, Mitama glances over to Sooyoung, wondering if that's what she imagined would happen. ]
no subject
[ But fine, she'll stay and watch this idiot who picks a ticket after her. Watching them succumb to misery when they win a pet rock or something like that should be rejuvenating enough to recover from her bad luck.
Well, that doesn't really go as she expected. ]
There's a prize like that?! What a scam!!
[ Well, the locals don't share her opinion and the business seems to be thriving. ]