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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
no subject
Still, he held his ground as the two women appeared from the foliage and it was clear that his assessment of the situation was accurate even before it began in earnest. As expected, the enforcer blocked and just as expected, Vander's prodigy stopped from going straight through.]
For one, you're the brains of the pair, and you can likely understand the complications of letting that one kill me. For two, you don't know if I'm actually alone, do you? And three, one or both of you killing me could mean losing Jinx. There's already an uphill battle I hear. [He t'sked softly and made a point of examining his fingernails.] Quite the drama... it's feeling like Zaun all over again already.
no subject
But losing Jinx? That might be motivation enough. While Caitlyn was hands off in that situation, she knew Vi was trying her best to bring her sister back around and rebuild their relationship. She doubted she would want to do something so foolish as ruin that, after the steps they had made.]
He's right, Vi. We don't know what could happened. And Jinx-- [Her words are strained, but she's speaking quietly, addressing just Vi. It makes her uneasy, though, because from how he says it, it makes her confident he's around found the other woman.] I know you don't want to lose her again.
no subject
she wants to march around and punch Silco in his ugly mug anyway, but she finally steps around Caitlyn to glare at Silco after the both of them speak. seeing him again brings so much rage back, coursing through her veins like white-hot lava.]
You don't even deserve to say her name.
[and she'll start to move closer, pointing at Silco.]
And I know your fucking dicksuckers ain't here. If it weren't for the fact that you've already gotten your disgusting hands on my sister, I wouldn't hesitate in killing you.
no subject
He held his ground when Vi closed the distance between them, staring at her. This wasn't the first time someone of the Undercity decided to push into his space.]
Is that so? Consider the state you left her in, I had to call her something. She chose Jinx, and I respected the choice.
[He tilted his head, watching Vi and waiting to see what she would do. Of course, he had part of his attention on Caitlyn. Two against one weren't favourable odds, especially given his healing injuries.]
Oh, well, it is so kind of you to hold yourself in reserve. I had my doubts that you had it in you.
no subject
Vi, he's just going to keep goading you. He wants you to make a mistake. [Something to turn Jinx back against her. Something to get her in trouble and out of his way. She tries to reach for Vi's shoulder, to ground her back to the reality they were facing, but she's not sure if it will work or not.
Maybe she'll be able to be a voice of reason for her. Which is also what Silco wants, but damn him. She's only doing it to keep Vi safe.]
no subject
If it wasn't for your goddamn dog, I would've made it back to her.
[she jabs her finger towards Silco's chest.]
You're the one who manipulated the situation to take everything from the both of us in the first place!
no subject
Even if nothing more than a few more words were exchanged, he considered its worth in gold at this point. That enforcer was a physical sort him? Some did like the exotic nature of the scummy underbelly of Zaun...
Yet, his eyes remained on Vi, considering her the bigger and more presented threat. He tilted his head slightly, the corner of his lip tugging in a nearly amused smile.]
I have plenty to my pack, so you'll have to be more specific. I assume you mean the Firelights who interrupted your little reunion. I don't own them.
[He knew who she was meaning, but he'd play obtuse.]
Did I? [A hand rose and trail over the scarring that marred the left side of his face.] Was I the monster story Vander told you about before bed? I expect he didn't talk much about it at all. That kind of shame burns too deep.
no subject
She didn't know if this would even work, but she came up behind Vi, wrapping her arms around her tightly before she could do anything else rash. Vi has strength on her, but Caitlyn has height and she hopes that balances this out.]
Vi! You have to calm down! I hate him too, but starting a fight-- here, now-- You don't know what could happen.
[And Caitlyn did not want to find out the hard way. If they tried to take Vi away from her--- No. She wouldn't let that happen.]
no subject
[but at the mention of Vander, her rage boils over. all she can see is red, and the vision of him dying on the ground. telling her to take care of Powder.
of protecting her to his last breath.]
If you don't get to talk about Powder, then you don't get to talk about Vander! He was my family, you shithead!!
[but then Caitlyn's arms are around her waist as she tries to move forward to either punch or strangle Silco, and angry tears well up in her eyes.]
Caitlyn, let me go!
[she tries desperately to get the other woman's arms away from her so she could jump towards Silco.. but alas.]
no subject
So he just calmly watched the pair of them struggle against each other. He tilted his head and pointed a finger at Vi's face, his expression hardening at her foolhardy declaration.]
He was my family first, girl. You were the run off he took in after forsaking our dream with half-baked attempts.
[Then he turned with a deliberate shake of his head, disapproving. He waved a hand as if dismissing the pair of them. He started to walk away.]
I can see why you keep the Enforcer around.