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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
He wasn't expecting grand gestures or statues of himself. That's never why he had a strangle hold on Zaun to drag it into independence. The fact that Jinx had made any gesture at all was reward enough, right up there with ending up in a place post-death where she was.]
The air is too clean. [He had been in clean air but even that paled in comparison to this. It hurt his nose.] I expect that for however nice it is there will be continual threats to safety. We must still be cautious with our freedom so that it won't be stolen from us.
no subject
... Well, I got someone with a bit of muscle who's my partner here. Maybe if I tell him about you, he'll look out for you too.
( is she just now bringing this up? yes. and also, it seems in her father's absence, she's been trying to mimic his footsteps. how cute. )
no subject
He doubted it. They were going to have to create their own Zaun, he expected.]
Have you? Tell me about this muscle of yours.
[He was pleased to hear that she was already cultivating the kind of relationships that would keep her safe, but also allow her leverage those that wanted to start trouble.]
no subject
His name is Ragna but I call him "Raggie". He's pretty tall compared to me with mix-match eyes like you...! ( jinx then leans in a little to silco as if she's about to tell him one major secret. )
And get this: his crime? He destroyed his entire world. — When he told me that, I thought, "Now THIS is a guy worth stickin' around." So I told him how badass I am and we sorta just formed an alliance from there.
( more like she annoyed the crap out of him until he gave in, but who cares for the deeper details. )
no subject
He opened one eye when he felt her lean close, peering at her with his blue eye.]
That's quite the crime. Did he happen to tell you if the crime was accurate?
[Excellent, he was pleased she was forming alliances. Her excitableness often made it so that many wouldn't associate with her long. She deserved allies, even friends if he were to think too hard about it. Friendship came with added risk, of course.]
Don't forget that you potentially topple governments. [He meant Piltover, but one could probably read that killing him also was toppling a different kind of empire.]
no subject
I-I haven't forgotten...! I'm the one whose callin' the shots between us. He's just... there for when I don't have time to waste on stupid ants.
no subject
Good. I consider it important that you gradually develop your leadership skills. It will be interesting to see your dynamic with him.
no subject
I'm teachin' my other friend that sometimes you can't just trust every person ya meet. It's a lil' sweet she does though. She's like this cookie that I wanna gobble up. Or this cute poro I wanna keep and pet all day.
no subject
After all neither he nor Vander had inclinations for overseeing a city at her age.]
It is true. Everyone has an agenda, and every person comes with a price. [Oh Jinx. Her descriptions were bemusing.] Which one is this?
no subject
the mere fact that he is sitting here right beside her is as if that awful night truly didn't existed -- that it was nothing more than a bad dream. a very...horrible and vivid bad dream. so instead, she smiles over this new reality but then it melts warmer when he asks more information about usagi. )
Usagi. She's my very first human friend. ( and jinx sounds genuinely happy about it too. ) She's really kind to me and... she listened to me when I was pretty upset. And...
( she pauses; fingers playing with her right braid. ) — And she isn't afraid of me at all. She said no matter what bad things I've done back home, she'll... still like me a-and be my friend.
no subject
He would ponder that later, even if he already knew the answer. Right now, he didn't want to think that his death had affected her so much.]
Hmmm.
[A friend, was it? It sounded too easy given the Undercity's reputation, but this was a new place. He had heard of place where friendship was apparently easier to come by.]
A curious proclamation. Time will tell if she can adhere to it long-term. I hope for your sake that she has such loyalty.
no subject
— She's way too gentle to lie. I can tell...
( or it could be a very good performance on the other's part, but she is going to sweep that thought under the rug. )
no subject
However, he wasn't in the position he was in to dash her hopes and dreams.]
As you say, daughter. Just guard yourself against betrayal.
no subject
( she says with so much certainty. after going through the whole betrayal loop so many times, jinx feels she can point out the signs before it'll reach her heart. and the chosen seemed to be so much different than the people of zaun and piltover put together. but then again.... it all could be an act, too. keeping her distance close and her head against his forearm, she dips into a brief silence, until an itching question nags at her. )
... 'Sides the hunger bit, is there anything else I oughta watch out for?
no subject
He had closed his eyes again and considered dozing off, but her question focused his attention to her immediately. He lifted his arm from his side and set it lightly to her shoulder again.]
Fever, feeling itching in your own skin, a hunger never satisfied, and occasional hallucinations. With overuse, silvering of certain blood vessels and discolouring of hair, but we'll avoid those last effects.
[He had no intention of letting her be ravaged by repeatedly dosing. No, he would only allow her to wean off of the effects and nothing more.]
no subject
Oh...
( she says nothing else beyond that, because what can be said? )
no subject
He felt her weight shift, and he moved to accommodate. He stretched his legs out over the arm of the couch and pressed himself back into the cushions behind him so that there was a few inches extra of room if she wanted to fully lay down and cuddle into him. His arm slipped across her shoulders in a rare show that he might be willing to let this happen.
Not for him. For her.]
We will make it through this phase together. You survived because of Shimmer. [And the doctor, but he'd give that credit mentally only.]
no subject
she's been holding back tears until the moment she saw him, but somehow -- she isn't able to keep them tucked in. with her breathing catching quiet, jinx lets a few of her tears roll down her cheeks before nuzzling more into him. )
I'm... glad you're here.
no subject
Like she was a little girl again, he held her close. He tipped his chin down so it could rest on the crown of her head, saying nothing of the fact that he knew she was crying. That was fine. He expected she needed to get it out. He remained his usual calm self in this situation, as he always considered himself.]
I'm pleased you found me so quickly. Whatever this new world holds, we'll discover it together.