expiationmeme | TEST DRIVE MEME #2

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TEST DRIVE MEME #2

TEST DRIVE MEME #2

Welcome to the TDM for Expiation, a pan-fandom adventure game with fantasy, science fiction, and sometimes subtle 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 (with the stated limitations).

You may find the below links helpful in getting to know themes of the world, locations, the people, and so on.

info | world

BE OUR GUEST

You may possess any number of questioning thoughts as you traverse the blindingly white room and are dropped into a darkness beneath your feet, but perhaps those same thoughts will be replaced with an awe and curiosity as you come to. Expiation has you now and you have joined the ranks of the Chosen, a seemingly select number of individuals who have arrived with parchment either in-hand or near them, detailing physical and mental statistics in addition to a particular crime to which you have been accused.

How you choose to spend your time here is largely up to you...

IT'S A WINDMILL, NOT A GIANT

As you begin to acquaint yourself with the lay of the land about you, you'll find that not too far from where you've woken there's a rather grandiose tower windmill. Its blades rotate at a casual pace as it faces the ocean and its accompanying shoreline. It appears to be in relatively pristine condition, implying that it is cared for well and often, likely by the locals of the town of Aldrip, which can be easily spied from the elevated level of land upon which the windmill sits.

Outside of the main structure is a collection of wooden crates in various display. Some of these are closed. Some are open. If you observe for long enough, you'll eventually find that a few relatively muscular sorts arrive on the scene to retrieve some of these crates and take them back the distance toward the town that lingers at the base of the mountains. If you choose to inspect the crates, you'll find some of them filled with heavy canvas sacks that contain flour. If you choose to ask the town locals retrieving them about this, they will explain that the windmill companion you have woken near is just one of the many implements that the locals use to provide sustenance to dining tables, festivities, and more.

You have the option to help the locals carry crates back, potentially to curry some favour with them, or simply take some sacks of flour yourself. Crates require more than one person to carry due to the weight, but two able-bodied adults should be able to handle the job quite well. A sack of flour can generally be carried by one, but perhaps you'll find yourself needing some assistance anyway. Maybe ask one of the others who've woken up near you. It certainly seems you're not alone in this new endeavour.

WHERE ONLY THE BRAVE MAY GO

If windmills and manual labour aren't your thing, you may find yourself drawn to the seemingly mysterious cave at the foot of the mountains, not far from the windmill in question.

The locals refer to this cave as Lorentia. Jagged rocks poke out around the entrance and have been sculpted and shaped to resemble what appears to be the massive sharp-toothed mouth of a dragon. It is possible you may be momentarily stopped by one of said locals who will explain that the Lorentia Cave is a passage system that leads through the interior of the mountains, though due to some collapse of the inside, the passageway does not go in far and is currently blocked off for the safety of local citizenry. In other words, proceed with caution.

If you're still feeling brave and care to take a peek inside, by all means. No one's going to stop you.

The interior of Lorentia Cave consists of both narrow passageways and some larger, more cavernous like rooms. There are assorted mining implements scattered along the ground, propped up against the walls, and carts that are filled with various ores, rocks, crystals, and more. The locals of Aldrip use Lorentia Cave for largely mining purposes and many of the things that are retrieved can be used for the smithing forges, the crafting of weaponry, or fashioning into jewellery and other accessories that are sold locally and taken to other towns on the continent.

There are some crudely designed signs that note to take care and depict simple skull drawings, indicating that certain paths may be a little more dangerous to traverse than others. If you are especially lucky (or unlucky, as the case may be), you may even spot some skeletal remains from some less-than-fortunate souls who got caught in a dead-end path and simply never made it out again.

If you listen closely, sometimes you hear the flutter of wings and a distant roar. Maybe it's best not to linger...

NO SOMETHING FOR NOTHING

MAXWELL'S SILVER ROCK-HAMMER

The townsfolk are welcoming to newly-arrived, something that has largely been met with a fair amount of scepticism and wariness from prior arrivals. That said, they continue to be hospitable, eager to share stories and songs about their land, their people, and their traditions.

A jewelcrafter is displaying their work today, putting their various wares out for locals and members of the Chosen to admire, or perhaps to purchase. Part of their demonstration is opening geodes with rock-hammers and showing off the impressive inside of colour and masterful natural works of art gifted to them by the land's bounty. They may choose to speak a little on how they revere the land, the resources they've been given, and how all of this has been bestowed upon them by the very gracious Those Who Were There, a mysterious and seemingly celestial higher power.

For those who are interested, they have the opportunity to offer some assistance to the jewelcrafter by opening some geodes as well. There's plenty of rock-hammers to go around and the most recent retrieval from Lorentia Cave's mining appears to have been very successful. The jewelcrafter is so moved by the offer of help that he's more than happy to let those who aid him keep one opened geode for themselves at no cost.

Congratulations on your new piece of decor!

FORGING BONDS IN THE FIRES OF PASSION

If you were a brave soul who made visit to the Lorentia Cave and came back with some weapon or armour crafting materials (including skeletal remains), you'll find that the smithies of Aldrip are eager to do business and many of them enjoy their craft for the sake of being passionate about what they do.

They'll waste no time in starting the forge and should you have a specific piece in mind you are requesting, as long as they have the materials on hand, they'll even be willing to show you the general process from start to finish on a rough draft of the piece in question. If you're feeling especially keen to help, they may offer to let you work directly on your project, though they will express apprehension and a wary eye for those who fail to have prior experience with such gruelling tasks.

Once your piece is finished, you can either wear it immediately, learn the best way to maintain and keep your equipment, or put it out on public display to show the rest of Aldrip and its residents, new and old alike. If you choose to let the smithies keep your piece, they'll pay you the cost of the materials you've brought them, plus a small percentage markup depending on how much personal effort you put into the craftsmanship personally.

Better yet, you may have just come out of the situation with a permanent bond. The smithies have an appreciation for those who share similar interests and may be willing to provide future discounts to those who purchase their wares.

FEEDING THE MASSES

YOU'RE A REEL CATCH

Aldrip locals always have a need for food and with many Chosen having recently arrived, that need has increased exponentially, for now they have a larger number of mouths to keep fed and stomachs to keep happy. To help inspire this retrieval of food, Aldrip is hosting a fishing competition and anyone who's interested in participating may do so, provided that they follow the guidelines set in place.

All participants must use local fishing equipment and this will be provided by the various merchants in town free of charge, save for those who wish to keep their fishing tackle. All fish caught within the local rivers, ponds, and the nearby ocean are acceptable for submission. Citizens (local or Chosen) are forbidden from using magic or technology as a means to catch their quarry. Anyone found breaking these rules will be disqualified and will be fish'd (that is, they will have raw flopping fish thrown at them).

The winner of the competition is chosen by having caught the largest fish (determined by size and weight) and will be announced at the end of the competition. The applicable winner may keep their fishing tackle free of charge and have their winning fish cooked in the style of their choice by the locals, which can then be shared amongst the people if they so choose (a fantastic way to make friends). The winner will also have a mediocre fish sculpture awarded to them with their name chiselled into the details in honour of their glorious victory.

OOC Notes:
Both TDM participants and characters already in the game may participate in the fishing competition. Please use the designated comment if you wish to partake. On the 13th of March (after applications have closed for the cycle), the winner will be announced and drawn by RNG. We will announce who the winner is on this TDM post (in these notes), the moderator plurk, and the OOC community.

I'M A [X], NOT A FISHER

If you're not a fishing kind of individual yourself, there's still plenty for you to get involved with.

Aldrip has need of people who are capable of preparing meals, especially seafood. It is probable that many participants of the fishing competition will end up fishing up things that are not fish or eligible for submission, but still edible. These include crabs, lobsters, jellyfish, octopuses, clams, and other related sea life. If you have experience with cooking or simply want to help out, the Aldrip locals will welcome you with open arms and may even pay you for your assistance.

If cooking isn't your forte, you'll find that some of the Aldrip citizens enjoy a betting pool from time to time. If you have some coins or something else you don't mind putting up for gamble, you might just come out with the whole pot if you put your currency on the winning fisher. Anyone found to be attempting to rig the betting pool and competition, however, will be returned their bet. We don't take kindly to cheaters here.

At least not openly.

Fishing can be a sometimes dangerous pastime. You may find a fisher who has gotten themselves accidentally hooked on their line or perhaps when they were freeing a fish, the hook got lodged into their thumb. Aldrip welcomes those who have healing abilities to help assist those more unfortunate situations, so fishers can go back to casting out their lines to make the most of the competition. That said, there's nothing in it for potential healers, just the notion that you've done a good deed.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, we can, probably. Maybe. We do have to strategize with what we have. On the occasion the four of us are here, I'm selling them Double Black. Do you want to hear the thought behind it? It gets even worse!

(DAZAI..........)

[The more Dazai says, the more Chuuya does not like this. Really, it's one thing to be considered a powerful weapon. He's long ago accepted that as part of his lot. It's another to be commodified as part of a deal, destruction on demand.

~~Mori was the only one allowed to do that.~~]

Well I'm already finding the very idea nauseating just from how you phrase it, so I'd love to hear how much worse it gets.

[The sarcasm is thick in his voice, sickly sweet. He's contemplating dunking Dazai into the lake and holding him under.]

You're not the only one. I don't like it either.

(which is, well, dazai speech for apologizing at this point. he doesn't see chuuya like that, but truth be told, it's leverage that they have. there's no reason not to use it, even if he knows where chuuya stands. not very far from dazai's own feelings about it.

chuuya's power aside, he also doesn't enjoy any little single bit from the plan he's made.)

We need to cooperate somehow. Don't take it personally. Convincing them and making it in a way that is controlled by us is the hard part. I think we should all inhabit the same space, under some strategic conditions - that way, Gogol can't reach Fyodor so easily if we can stop it, Fyodor can have some protection over Gogol, they can "keep an eye on us", while I keep an eye on them, and Fyodor and I can come up with a plan. I intend to use both of us, Chuuya.

[Chuuya not sure how to take it that Dazai actually seems apologetic about this. It's weird, like an ill fitting jacket or biting into a fruit that should have been sour, but finding it too sweet instead.

So he doesn't think about it, just focuses on the issue at hand.]

So basically, we keep them occupied by 'working together' on a way to get home? What about the risks? They could knife us in our sleep, y'know. And we could do the same to them, frankly.

[Which Chuuya is not against at all, from the lilt in his voice.]

...And where do I fit in with all of this, besides being an attractive source of power? How do you plan to 'use' me here?

I'm not knifing anyone, you know my knifing days are more or less, usually, pretty much over, sometimes.

(and honestly, he's seen chuuya kick heads off, so really, knifing is a bit of a child's play at this point.

but here's the point, chuuya, that's the point.)

We won't. I need Fyodor's brains. Someone as determined as he is would cut my job in half, really. Gogol's Overcoat is useful, but there's us as bait for all that.

(sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry...........)

... You're gonna stop me from choking Fyodor in his sleep, or really, because you can't really turn around and leave me alone in a house with those two. Aren't you the one who's gonna kill me, anyway?

Edited 2023-03-04 02:56 (UTC)

So? You always preferred manipulation over getting your hands dirty anyway.

[Chuuya would know, he was usually the one crushing heads while Dazai worked strategy.]

So you're gonna pick Fyodor's brain about how to get home.... a temporary truce, then?

[There is no mistaking how dubious Chuuya seems to find this place.]

I am going to have enough trouble not choking all of you in your sleep, given how pissed I am at you and everyone else involved in this.

[That is not a no though. That's a 'I am resigning myself to going along with this because what other choice is there', in Chuuya speak.]

Yeah, but you're always pissed at me, so it's not exactly news, not exactly thrilling, you've become boring, slug!

(he knew that this was going to be it, at the end of the day. the manipulation here is how dazai knows chuuya will follow him into the line of fire for his safety, so, he knew there was not going to be a hole or a flaw from this side of the plan. how dog-like chuuya is always ends up being very handy to him, at the end of the day.

it's easier to deal with that from up close, too.)

So, anything else? I would like a second chance at drowning you now!

And why do you think I'm always pissed at you, mackerel?! You're always pulling stupid shit and getting me dragged into it!

[Ugh. Ugh!

And then Dazai just makes this worse, by saying that. The grin Dazai gets in response is a little wild, a gleam in Chuuya's eyes he might recall from the vindictive cruelty of their teenage years--

He won't get much time to react before Chuuya's shoving him forcefully into the water. Is this stress relief? Maybe a little.]

Well, you can just not come and let me handle this without you, that's a possibility too, Chuuya!

(impossible in so many ways, he feels, but it's well established already, nothing to go over here. it's with a little noise that he falls into the water, splashing, but like chuuya said, it's not like drowning can kill him.

once he resurfaces, his head shakes to rid his hair of the water, and wet chuuya's face in the process. just as fast, his hands curl around chuuya's ankles, and he pulls.

enjoy swimming, chuuya!)

[Chuuya wouldn't have even dignified that with a response, so it's probably good that they're both going into the water now. Really, he knows the score: Even with Dazai's crazy ideas, their best chances are sticking together.

Unfortunately.

He lets out a snarl when Dazai drags him into the water, reaching out to grab Dazai by the hair and shove him under.]

You piece of shit!

Careful, careful, petit mafioso, takes you longer to reach surface!

(because, yes, he's so small, etc, etc, we understand the jab. once he's under, he's blowing bubbles, but reaching up for chuuya's choker with that long arm of his.

to pull him down just as much, and use that to grab some air.)

Get some new material alr--geh!!

[And then Dazai is dragging him down by his neck, and Chuuya's suddenly a ladder Dazai is using to climb to the surface. Chuuya shoves his fist into Dazai's gut, but he barely had any air on account of him having been talking the moment Dazai dragged him down.]

(the water does help the punch not land that much, and it's not that much of a surprise that it comes, but the bubbles release anyway, and he gasps as he makes it to surface.

he's swimming away, thank you, he's very done with this.)

[And all Chuuya can really do is kick his way to the surface and keep after Dazai, because he is now soaking wet and he hates this, thanks.

He collides with something on the way up, snarling and ripping it away from where it got caught in his jacket.

It's only once he surfaces that he realizes it's a fish. A fairly sizable one, at that. Decent enough to make a meal anyway.]

Chuuya!! You've-- You've caught us dinner!! I'll make the fire!!

(listen, LISTEN. he's had chuuya's cooking before, and you know what, this is forgiven, all is forgiven, thank you, he's forgiven you.)

Eh?! What's with this 'us' all of a sudden?! You couldn't catch shit!

[Chuuya's scowling as he hauls himself out of the water, but... that is definitely a fish big enough for two.] I could just enter it into the contest, y'know.

I caught more fish than you did!!

(his bucket is behind them, see!! he's pointing at it, almost too enthusiastically.)

But I want that one.

Size matters though! I bet yours are puny as hell.

[He smirks up at Dazai, waving his catch in the air like the smug show off he is.]

Bet that's why you want mine, huh?

If size matters, then I'm doing better than you in all areas, Chuuya.

(self-burn, those are rare...

but either way, he'll just grab his bucket of fish, dropping all of them - the small, the medium, the big ones, all back into the water.)

Oops. Guess I have nothing to eat anymore.

You...!!!

[Chuuya isn't sure which he's more pissed about: that he walked right into that one, or that Dazai is wasting so much food.]

You stupid piece of shit, you just tossed a bunch of meals!!! Why the hell should I feed you now?!?!

[No it's definitely that one.]

Well, oh well, if you don't, well, I guess, well... I'll starve, of course! You know I can't cook! I just got here, so I don't have any money!

(bullshit one - he won't starve. it's dazai. bullshit two, he CAN cook, he just, you know, takes creative liberties sometimes, and it's easier to have the path of least effort if people actually believe that, and three -- he has conned some bets already. of course he has money.)

Oh don't bullshit me, you've probably conned at least a few people out of their money already.

[He knows Dazai far too well for any of those excuses to work. Chuuya scowls at him, the fish in his hand slowly ceasing it's flopping. without a bucket to go into.

But also: Chuuya knows this is just one meal. Chuuya also knows this place is clearly trying to drum up more food. And unlike Dazai, Chuuya eats properly.]

I feed you, you reel up more fish however the way managed to get them the first time. Deal?

Fufufu, Chuuya knows me so well.

(caught, but not surprised at all. that's what growing up together will do to someone, and he theatrically turns around, stepping towards a place where he can start a fire without it being considered an arson attempt.)

Sure, sure, deal, deal! Let's go, Chuuya.

(working as intended. ♥)

You better hold up your end of the deal, Mackerel. I'm not going to go hungry here.

[Chuuya lets out a sigh, rummaging in his wet jacket to pull out his knife. It's a good thing he keeps one with him all the time, because he certainly didn't arrive with his usual work clothes.

He'll have to clean and gut the fish first, but it should make a sizable meal.]

I know, I know. I got it.

(honestly, they could just buy food. but dazai wants this time, wants chuuya distracted and with a goal in mind so that he can pipe down a little. making fire is as easy as breathing, and soon, they have something crackling and warm to stare at.

his hands hover at a comfortable distance. it feels comforting.)

Your cooking isn't terrible, anyway. If I make an effort, I might be able to live off of it.

(compliment??????)

Edited 2023-03-06 09:49 (UTC)

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