TEST DRIVE MEME #4

[expiationmods]

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.

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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.

WILDCARD

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!

TOP LEVEL DIRECTORY

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

Comments

[ticket218]

"Why" is no one's concern but mine.

[ The swat at this strange man's hand on his hair is much less aggressive than it could be. Peeved as he is at the idea of any onlookers latching on to the idea that he isn't human, he still doesn't want to turn this into an actual fight or anything. ]

I am a human being who, yes, has been kidnapped. Just like most everyone else here.

[foxically]

(there's not much of a reaction, just a slowblink that comes as he turns around, his tail purposefully running across the other's nose. sneeze, "human"...)

Alright, sir. We'll go further, and we'll talk, since you're all full of secrets anyway. I suggest you follow suit.

[ticket218]

[ He tries, he tries so hard not to but at least he gets his elbow up before he sneezes. Like a kitten. ]

Right, of course.

[ Yes yes, he'll follow suit. As if it wasn't his idea to walk and talk in the first place... ]

[foxically]

(tomoe is not looking back to see whether the stranger is following - he can hear it either way. when they're far away enough, he turns.)

Spit, strange demon.

[ticket218]

Or, we could start with introductions like gentlemen.

[foxically]

I'm Tomoe, familiar of the Mikage Shrine, servant to the Land God, Nanami.

(girl name, tall man with sexy deep voice.)

You?

[ticket218]

[ As if he has any room to comment on any kind of androgyny. ]

Sigma, no affiliations or titles to speak of at the moment.

I take it you don't know if your Mistress is here or not?

[foxically]

She's prideful and likes to meddle where she isn't supposed to, so there's a chance she might be hiding from me in order to accomplish this herself.

I've set fire to look for her, but so far, nothing.

[ticket218]

--I'm sorry, you set fire to look for her?

[foxically]

... You're a really bad at being a demon if you don't know what kitsunes can do.

[ticket218]

I'm not a demon at all!

[foxically]

--- Stop beating around the bush!!!!! Of course you are, with that smell of yours?!

[ticket218]

If you want to get incredibly liberal with the definition of demon, maybe!? Otherwise you're the only one here being difficult about this!

[foxically]

Explain or I'm shaking you!!!

[ticket218]

You are not touching me!!!

[foxically]

How are you even going to stop me!! Human-passing!!

[ticket218]

Don't try me and find out, mutt!!

[foxically]

Mutt?!?! MUTT?!?!

[ticket218]

Mutt!! Cur!! Reactive, untrained dog!!!

[foxically]

ARE YOU BLIND?! I'M OBVIOUSLY A FOX?!?!

(from his kimono sleeve, a leaf appears and he throws it to the other's forehead--- and, look at that, who's a mutt now.

sigma. sigma's the mutt. woof.)

Hahaaaaaaa!! Who's the mutt now?!?!

[ticket218]

[ A?

A!?!?!? Panic spin to try and look at himself, doesn't need to, those are four legs he's walking on!? ]

What--what did you just do!? Stop it right this second!!

[ Pawing at his head! Get it off, get it off!! ]

[foxically]

... Mmmmm!! Mutt demon, mutt demon!!! All you have to do is say - oh, Great Tomoe, I deeply apologize for calling you a mutt, and I will never do that again, as you are a fox.

[ticket218]

[ At that, Tomoe gets a long, hard staredown from the (no doubt weirdly bicolored) dog, tail behind him tense and still.

And then he goes in to try for a bite at Tomoe's ankles. ]

[foxically]

(it's almost comical how his leg is attempting to shake the sigdog out.)

Do you want me to turn you into a worm?!

[ticket218]

[ Said between a mouthful of leg, ] Change! Me! Back!!

[ GNAW GNAW GNAW]