![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
expiationmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
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
Hythlodaeus | FFXIV
Hythlodaeus may have no idea where he ended up, how or why, but it's not going to stop him from enjoying himself if there's a festival going on. After all, the weather is nice, the people are friendly, the food looks delicious and surely sooner or later he'll find a way to return home (or, more likely, Azem will arrive to pick him up). In the meantime, he might as well have some fun.
... Or, rather, work a part-time job.
"Would you like a beverage? One must remember to hydrate in this weather!"
A cheerful voice calls out to you, and if you turn around - well, you'll probably have to look up some, because this guy is tall. And he himself is not exactly dressed for the weather, wearing a long black robe and a white half-mask covering the upper part of his face. The effect might be a little spooky, but it's probably offset by the flowers-and-ribbons boa over his neck. He's also holding a tray with several tall cups filled with liquid in a pastel-purple colour and some... dark round bubbles at the bottom?.. This is, presumably, what he's trying to sell to you.
II. Does it Bug You?
Though this is certainly not Amaurot, the habits of decades die hard (not that Hythlodaeus has any reason to let them die, anyway). Evaluating concepts is almost second nature now to him; after all, dozens would pass across his desk every day at the Bureau, and there is a certain pleasure in identifying familiar patterns and finding the differences, the new and the unique in the submissions (although, alas, not in every one).
The ecosystem of this world, though, is delightfully free of things created just for the sake of joining a trend (he will never quite get over the shark fad) and full of new, unfamiliar creations. After his arrival Hythlodaeus spends a lot of his days wandering Aldrip and its surroundings (as much as he would love to set foot out further, Hades's incessant fussing and worrying makes it hard), observing flora and fauna.
You may run into Hythlodaeus on one of such walks of his; he sits crouched, the pose concealing his impressive height, staring intently at his hands. As you look closer, something moves across his fingers, a little spot of red... a ladybug? He also seems to be murmuring to himself.
"Well, isn't this a cute one..." He gently raises his fingers in order as the ladybug crawls across his knuckles and tips his head as he examines it closer. "Such classic features of the coleoptera, but..."
At that he seems to notice your approach and looks up with a smile. He seems to be completely fine with striking up a conversation with a stranger, and in fact even holds up the beetle as though to demonstrate it to you.
"Aposematism or general mimicry, do you think?"
II
It's while wandering around Aldrip that she spots a figure in an all too familiar set of robes. She tries to sneak up so she can squat down beside him and take a look at what's in his hands. But she should have known it wouldn't be so easy to sneak up on someone like him.
The small au ra woman looks from ladybug then up at him, confusion clear on her features. "Apo-what now?"
no subject
He leaves the question to ponder for later. The moment of his seriousness passes, and Hythlodaeus smiles again in his usual welcoming if slightly mischievous manner.
"Ah. You are new to the study of creations?"
The answer should be obvious, given that Yuja looks rather more like a familiar - could that be the case, then? - than another person, and given that this land is full of people not from his star, people who do not possess the gift for creation magicks. Still, that doesn't mean they can't study creatures around them, right?
no subject
Which begs the question, should she say something or should she simply leave it?
For now, she'll just leave it be.
"I... guess so?" She's really not sure how to answer that question. She's familiar with botany, after all, what good is an adventurer if they can't recognize plants they shouldn't eat? But the study of creations, well, that's not something people do in her time. People study the various creatures of Etheirys, but not in the same way the Ancients did.
"Though most of my interaction with creatures is hunting."
no subject
"Oh, I imagine these would make truly poor prey! Unless you were a small avian, of course, in which case you might have fallen for the said aposematism." He points to the ladybug's bright wings, and as though willing to play its part the bug actually raises them a little. "'Tis this manner of bright colouration meant to ward off predators. Seen in many creations, of course, but most common in marine life, I would say."
Maybe the Ancients were just nerds.
no subject
She nods slowly. "So that's what that is called."
no subject
"Well, as long as they have a steady supply of food they should be fairly inoffensive... My, could you imagine what would happen if a whole crowd of these went hungry? Especially with the size you mentioned..."
no subject
Her expression turns a little flat at that scenario. "Honestly, I don't have to imagine. I've had to help cull their population in the past."
no subject
"Have you?" Hythlodaeus seems to perk up some more at the revelation; after all, it's still relevant to his work. "Did they not acclimate to their environment properly, or was there some error in their introduction?"
Well, he sure sounds as though he expects people to have put bugs in the world, instead of them always being there. Weird how that happens.
no subject
"Overpopulation. They turned from helpful to being pests."
She knows how the Ancients worked. That they curated their world, introducing creations into nature after rigorous testing. It's still such a strange concept to her, but she images he'd find that various creatures have always been there as being just as strange.
"Introducing a creature to a new environment isn't commonly done."
1
Other beach-goers flow past him but he feels as though time stands still. He doesn't speak. He simply stares.
no subject
But perhaps one more worry as to why his friend looks nothing like himself and why his soul seems... muddled. Oh well, all in its time. He steps closer, picking up a drink and holding it out to the man.
"Pray give this a try, esteemed visitor! Only the finest local ingredients, I assure you."
... Of course he's going to act like he's just hawking his goods to a passerby, not to his best friend.
no subject
His gaze drops back to the purple concoction. It smells faintly sweet. He doesn't know what the black orbs at the bottom are. All in all, it isn't something he has a particular interest in trying so he tries to hand it back.
"I don't want it," he says flatly. "Thank you." He doesn't quite look his old friend in the eye. An easy thing to do when you're much shorter.
Right now he just wants to run, run far away from this apparition in pink and lavender.
no subject
"Come now, don't be that much of a child." There's a subtle smirk on his lips at that; he's clearly poking fun at his friend's diminished stature. "Though mayhap I could scour the beach later to find you collapsed from thirst and overwork? 'Twould not be the first time..."
no subject
Coldly (far more coldly than he intends), he replies, "I'm not a child." He hasn't been a child for a long time. He doesn't think he could ever mimic one.
More to the point: his worst fears are confirmed. Hythlodaeus recognises him. He doesn't want his friend to see him like this, lesser in more ways than stature.
He takes a step back and glares upward.
"I fear you have mistaken me for someone else."
no subject
"Is that so~?.. Mayhap even my eyes can deceive me. May I have your name, then?"
no subject
The lie won't keep for even a day if Hythlodaeus finds Azem - or rather, the Warrior of Light. But at least for now...
"Are you going to take this...this thing back or not?" He jerks the bubble tea in Hythlodaeus' direction again. His fingers are growing cold.
no subject
Despite the plea, Hythlodaeus does not take the bubble tea back, instead giving his "customer" another smile... and some puppy eyes.
"Do you truly not want it? 'Tis a great drink for the weather. Made by yours truly!"
no subject
Like you, he thinks, and is immediately disgusted with himself for it.
"If you don't take it back I will toss it into the sea where some poor child can look forward to swimming in it."
no subject
"Could you not simply give it to a child? But if 'tis the level of sugar you are worried about, I do have some refreshments with a subtler flavour. Aught with mint, mayhap?"
no subject
...He definitely doesn't want this particular, sugary disaster however, so after a quick glance around he foists it on a passing child.
"Here. No need to thank me. Now go away."
He turns away from the (understandably confused) child and turns back to face Hythlodaeus, scowling. "Cold mint tea, no sugar."
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
"I...don't think I know that word." Awkward...
no subject
"Ah, my apologies. Mimicry is the way some creations try to look like other, more dangerous creations. Aposematism serves the same function of warding off predators, but instead of mimicking something else it refers to bright colouration that signals - look, I am not edible, and indeed quite poisonous!"
no subject
"Oh! No, these guys aren't poisonous." But he pauses thoughtfully. "Well...not to people, at least. I guess they could be poisonous to birds. Or maybe it's for camouflage? If you were sitting under a leaf, covered in spots, you might be hard to see." Yes, we are now referring to the ladybug as 'you'. "They like to live on herbs like dill and cilantro."
II
catthing by nature.Though his ears perk when G'raha is addressed directly. ]
General mimicry, I believe. If they are similar to the creatures found upon our star.
[ Though they are incredibly smaller, aren't they? ]