( TDM | #1 )

[spellbindmods]

TDMs can be used for anyone interested in the game and/or testing out a new muse.

Test Drive samples are encouraged to be used for your application sample, though they are NOT a requirement.

Feel free to use one prompt, multiple prompts or make up your own!

These threads can be considered game canon upon game opening if you so choose.

Telepathy and magic can be used at any point in time on the TDM, from Prompt A to your wildcard prompt. A specific prompt exists, however, that makes sure all characters have an equal chance to use this mechanic within the TDM. You're encouraged to have characters use telepathy and their magic accidentally or even purposefully on any TDM prompt.

If you aren't set on your character's power yet or want to try out a few, you're still able to use the test drive. Maybe your character is a late bloomer and hasn't fully unlocked their intuitive drive yet. In the case of multiple powers, only prompts that contain the power you choose for your application will count as potential game canon threads.

While only one character can be apped or reserved during a cycle, feel free to post with more than one character if you like! This is for those who are uncertain of their first choice or who would like to try out different characters within the setting.

You blink and that's all it takes. At first the picture doesn't come in clear, like you're waiting for a screen to fully load -- more aptly, it's like you're waiting for a camera to focus so you can find image clarity. Before you happened to rapidly close your eyes and open them, your life was normal...well, normal for you, anyway. Fighting an alien, making a quesadilla, dying. And then that blurry picture suddenly takes over. Depending on your situation and ability to acclimate, you may not fully understand what's happening. A dream, a hallucination. But when you feel the trunk of the trees surrounding you, it's oddly...real. The smell is real. The moisture on the ground is real. The small grass snake you find slithering close to your feet seems very real as well. There are a few other sensations that also begin to feel a little more like reality with every passing second. Like the fact that your intuition is trying to tell you something that doesn't seem plausible. One is more obvious -- you now have a new piece of jewelry inserted snuggly between your collarbones. Maybe that's when you realize it is real. When you realize that there's no delusion here -- you aren't where you once were. But if that's the case...where are you? A ▢ Your character's first experience here will be waking up in a forest. Specifically, located here. It's up to them to traverse and try to figure out where they are, whether they make it to the beach or the main house area. There's also a mysterious trail of soft, felt bags, tied off with thin rope, leading your character to what appears to be a specific destination. These items can be as useful as a granola bar to as seemingly useless as a stapler. Let's just say that some of these mysterious objects are pretty out there. They're free to travel off the beaten path, but that comes with its own perils. Maybe your character has a power that could fend these creatures off...? They aren't exactly happy about sharing their territory.

After an hour or so of trekking through the forest, you finally come upon a break in the tree line that reveals to you an area that appears to be inhabitable. Your first stop is the large mansion that sits in the valley of the opening...if anyone is here or there's a way to get out of here, the house makes the most sense, right? There are a variety of rooms in this mansion, and you're free to explore them. You also spy a lot of crates sitting in the middle of the floor in one of the main rooms...are you curious enough to open them? B ▢ Feel free to have your character explore the mansion (the won't find much but you can take some liberties with the TDM), and they're free to open these mysterious crates. In them they'll find edible fruit and bread, modern clothing in a variety of sizes and portable medical kits. Characters who apply using the TDM are free to carry these objects into the game opening. If you want some specifics, there are a few rooms of note: the game room (containing a working pool table, non-electric pinball machines and a card table with supplied chips and multiple decks), the cellar (filled with a variety of liquor and wines, all aged quite well) and a large room upstairs that contains a glass ceiling and a variety of books in a foreign language. One more thing -- if you happen to go rummaging around, you may find tiny pin cameras. They're minuscule...you may not even notice them unless you look hard enough. At this point you notice that you aren't alone -- there are other people in the same boat as you! When they're around you, that signet you feel in your chest tingles slightly. The sensation isn't unpleasant, but instead like a warm tingle is spreading from their neck outward. You instinctively attempt to talk to your fellow kidnapping victims, and that works just fine...but what are all these voices you hear in your head now? Are you crazier than you thought you were? C ▢ Here's where you can play around with the telepathy mechanic. It's likely your character won't be used to it which can lead to accidental broadcasting. If they happen to tap the signet purposefully or try to pull it out, everyone within a radius of 100 feet will feel a throbbing pain in their head. But your character won't know that, will they? For those more inclined to adventure, there's also another building to investigate. From the outside, it looks very circular and unidentifiable, but upon entering you'll discover that it's a fully-functioning bath house. D ▢ Despite containing steamy water and luxury bathing accommodations, the bathhouse is currently being overrun with crabs. The not-so-smart members of this species have fallen into the extremely hot water, flash boiling themselves after being unable to get back out. Others are a little more intelligent but equally aggressive. Characters: watch your toes and be cautious if you really want to take a much-needed bath! They may also want to check twice before using the restroom, otherwise the experience might be more painful than they're used to.

Exploring the mansion and the bathhouse was fun and all, but aside from the crates they didn't prove to be very useful. When you came into the clearing, you also saw a row of very colorful buildings down near the beach. It makes sense that this area may be more beneficial to any escape plans you have, and taking a dip in the ocean might be nice! It's not until you reach the beach huts that you realize that murky blue color you spied wasn't the ocean. It's outter space. There goes any hopes you had of swimming to safety. E ▢ Time to explore the beach huts! Most of them are abandoned, but your characters will notice they seem to be more livable than the mansion somehow. This is in part due to a little note tacked to the door of each beach hut that reports in scrawling script "Claim your hut, please!" Will your character listen or reject the sinking feeling that they may not be leaving anytime soon? Some huts are also bigger than others, and a few even contain small sinks and softer beds. Grab these while they're available! Even though it turns out the ocean was a lie and you're precariously close to falling off the edge of the world, the area around the huts is decidedly beachy. Sitting on the beach is a lobster trap, though about 10 times the size of any you might have seen before. Inside are more felt sacks, though larger. The weirdest part is that peering through the bars, you notice each has a nametag attached. The reason you know this to be true is because you just spied your own name written on one of the labels. There's also something else underneath it. The descriptor may not mean much to you yet, but it will soon: it's the title of their newfound magic. In each felt sack is a sort of starter kit: a set of dated and drapey plainclothes, a bag of dried boar jerky, a leather flask filled with water and a small tube of sunblock (the writing is in a bizarre pictograph language, but the giant picture of the sun on the tube should explain the purpose). There's also a rolled up paper tied with a string that reads as follows: "Welcome. Things will be explained in due time. For now, understand that you have been blessed with a gift of magic. Look into your brain and feel the instinct for both. Practice makes perfect." F ▢ Here's the official prompt for playing with newfound magic (and telepathy if you want more practice). It's likely characters have already accidentally broadcast their thoughts, utilized the C prompt or used their magic inadvertently, but maybe this new information and small explanation has motivated them to try and see what they're truly capable of. Don't worry. If they're lucky enough to stick around, all will be explained. ...What if you're a wildcard, though? Someone who doesn't play by the rules and follows a different path, no matter what direction the world may be guiding you in? This island is large and contains many areas of interest, from crystal streams to hidden locations. Maybe you want to do something different...so break the mold and explore! G ▢ Wildcard prompt. Go nuts and utilize your own creativity within the setting. This can mean striking out on your own or utilizing a certain location in a different way. The world is your oyster!

GAME NAVIGATION

Comments

Mikleo | Tales of Zestiria the X

[oneandmikleonly]

a. what a boar

[Mikleo's disoriented. he's somewhere he's definitely never been before; while they certainly haven't had time to explore everything Glenwood has to offer, he has a good memory for where they have been, and this forest? not one of those places. his friends, for now, are nowhere to be seen. the place feels strangely devoid of malevolence, but he can't so much as summon his weapon. it's really throwing him off.

all in all, he doesn't know quite how to deal with monsters(?) when they show up. if someone's wandered off the path in the same area he did, they'll find him in a thin break in the trees, backing up slowly and cautiously, a fairly stout branch held across his body in a defensive position.]

Good prickleboars. Nice prickleboars.

[that's...not actually what they are, but. close enough for now.]

c. hELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE...of the room

[look, when you find a weird thing embedded in your chest, you try to investigate, okay? if you've made it to the library like Mikleo has, you'll be alerted by the pain; he's standing in a corner tugging at the signet with a frown, and little snippets of his thoughts are cutting in and out of yours, across the sudden throbbing in your head.]

--not a single manuscript that would assist with this, is there--

--never even SEEN this sort of script before--

--owwwww, what is this thing!?

[at least you know who to yell at.]

e. what. what? what???

[yeah no, he didn't actually make it into the beach huts. nor did he investigate the lobster trap. instead, he's standing about as close to the edge as one can get without falling right off it, goggling out at the view of space. his tone is a little plaintive, and addressed to the world in general]

Please tell me those aren't stars. That should definitely be water. What sort of place is this...?

e

[p_mortem]

Are they stars...?

[ Minato shuffles as he walks, slow enough that Mikleo has ample time to hear him approach and not be startled into tripping over the edge. Minato doesn't really trust himself not to fall over though, so he kneels on the ground next to him, then lies down flat on his stomach with his arms and face hanging over the edge. ]

Which one's the Sun, do you think?

[oneandmikleonly]

[Mikleo visibly jerks when he's addressed directly, pure startlement -- it's going to take him some getting used to, this idea of everyone mysteriously being able to see him in this mysterious place of mysteries. Minato's careful approach means he doesn't outright jump and flop into orbit, though...and after a moment's hesitation, he sits down next to him.]

I don't...know. I've never seen anything like this before. It's incredible, but...but...

[but they shouldn't be here? but all the laws of the world he knows have been rewritten around him in an afternoon? all of that, and more. he's overwhelmed by it.]

[p_mortem]

[ Oh. Minato's brows draw together slightly when he sees Mikleo startle; he'd tried to be careful too, but he's always been a quiet person too. He's still the entire time Mikleo takes the seat, the only thing moving being his eyes as they flit from one point of light to the next in the expanse below. ]

...but it means the world is flat?

[ Since that sure is a sun above them, lighting the sky from above. But down there is another sky? Or something. ]

Think you can hold onto me while I try to see what's on the other side of this cliff?

[oneandmikleonly]

[he opens his mouth to ask about the flat world comment -- he's not from a place that's really technically advanced enough for that to make sense -- but the second bit distracts him.]

I...can, but I'm not entirely sure that's safe...are you sure you want to risk it?

[caution wars with the need to know more about their situation. he's strong enough to do it, but it's unideal. he does get an idea, though.]

If you are, I bet it'll be easy enough to scrounge up a rope instead of relying on just my arms. It'll be easier on us both if you've got a lifeline back up; we don't know how hazardous it is, right?

c.

[imsorey]

[Pausing at the entrance to the library with a fond smile on his face, and some relief. He'd recognize that voice anywhere, telepathic or otherwise. It's hard to say how long it's been when he only has Mikleo's appearance to judge by, but any measure of time feels like too long.

He could just speak since he's close enough, but he tests out the telepathy instead.]

Don't pull on it, you're just going to hurt yourself. I don't think it comes off.

[oneandmikleonly]

[well, the pain STOPS, because Mikleo just FROZE ENTIRELY at hearing that voice; there's a ringing silence on the other end of the telepathic channel.

hm. that might be a bit worrying actually.]

[imsorey]

[Oh god I didn't mean to break him how long has it been

the only reason he doesn't move closer is because he doesn't want to startle Mikleo more than necessary with his sudden physical appearance]

Uh, Mikleo?

[oneandmikleonly]

[someone starts running around frantically somewhere in Sorey's vicinity, concealed by the bookshelves, like his speaking again hit some kind of switch]

This isn't funny--

[it's aching hope and disbelief in equal measure.]

e.

[humenity]

Probably not. There's likely a reasonable expaination for why it seems like it is.

[ .... Though, is there anything really reasonable about any of this... ]

[oneandmikleonly]

--nnh.

[like with everyone else who's approached him today, he flinches from her addressing him. he's surprised; it's more than obviously visible. he does answer, though, after that hesitation.]

Anything I've heard like an explanation today more than stretches the bounds of reason. I'd almost prefer none at all.

[almost being the key word there. of course the more information they have about this, the better.]

[humenity]

[ There's a length pause when he flinches, looking sympathetic and a little guilty. ]

My apologies. Did I startle you?

[ That most definitely wasn't her intention... ]

None at all? There's no telling what the truth is, knowing this place, but... May I ask why you don't want to know?

[oneandmikleonly]

It's--not your fault. I'm still getting used to being seen to be startled, I suppose.

[he doesn't have anything better to go with here than the truth.]

...and, I do want to know. It's just been an overwhelming enough day that I could do with getting the knowing in small doses, probably. Does that make more sense?

i realized i had no meebo tags, IN HORROR c

[splinten]

Please stop whatever you are doing.

oh no

[oneandmikleonly]

Aaagh! Fine, I get it! But you stop what you're doing, too!

[he yells that aloud AND telepathically, but he does let the signet be]

[splinten]

Ow.

[that is said out loud from a short distance away]

[oneandmikleonly]

Sorry! I stopped.

[he's totally still doing it]

a

[breaksouls]

[There's something familiar about this scene. There's no burst of fire or Shepherd to save the day, but Velvet draws her weapon as she approaches the creatures from behind. She's not interested in rescuing this person, even if that might just happen.]

Stand back.

[Her tone implies something closer to "Don't get in my way" rather than "Be careful". Although her arm isn't responding, she's still plenty able to deal with these things on her own. Velvet kicks and slashes away until the last one falls.]

Don't expect me to save you if this happens again.

[She kneels down and begins skinning the boar closest to her. These aren't prickleboar, but they also aren't piggleboar...]

[oneandmikleonly]

[the fight's over almost before Mikleo can react, and he doesn't recognize Velvet -- the stylized illustrations of a Lord of Calamity look nothing like the reality, and he can't pick up on her exuding malevolence the way he might back home. but he keeps his guard up nonetheless, still scanning the area with his makeshift staff at the ready in case any more boars happen.]

I didn't need that much saving -- [maybe or maybe not, his pride's a bit pricked either way] -- but, thank you.

Do you need help with that?

[it's the least he can do.]

[breaksouls]

[She gives him a look over, her eyes lingering on his staff. Given the fact he was trying to negotiate with them earlier, she doesn't exactly believe him.]


And how would you help me? I can handle it myself.

[oneandmikleonly]

[it could be worse, honestly. they could have been ligers. he lifts his shoulders slightly after a moment, not a little taken aback by her hostility, but reasonable]

...provisions are a good idea, and I know how to dress game. There's more than one confused person wandering around these woods. If you don't want help with this, then if you want to hunt more, or just a hand carrying the meat back--you just got me out of a tight spot.

a. c:

[ex_tenzoku558]

Oh look, [ a familiar voice comes from above, where the earth seraph is perched daintily on a thick tree branch, umbrella shading her as she casts a glance over her shoulder—a bird's eyes view of the situation at hand. no telling how long she has been there watching the scene unfold nor is she inclined to tell him. not yet, anyway. besides, his predicament is not dire enough to warrant her to step in right at this moment. she's not that heartless ] a Meebo in his natural habitat.

!!!

[oneandmikleonly]

Edna?!

[there are several things in play here, which are: 1. why couldn't he tell she was there until she spoke up? 2. oh thank the great seraphim a friend is here 3. wait that's kind of bad, he still has no idea what this place is other than 'has trees' and 'has boars' and that means two of them are stuck here 4. his natural reaction to Edna is to puff up a bit]

Since when is this supposed to be my natural habitat?

[a boar takes a snorting step forward, responding to the tension in his voice; he takes a firmer grip on his makeshift staff, and shifts position a little. if they rush him, they won't be rushing her perch at the same time.]

♡

[ex_tenzoku558]

The boars aren't the only ones who are prickled, it seems.

[ and whose fault is that, edna... ]

So, [ she begins to swing her dangling legs back and forth a bit. a discussion is definitely in order once they—he—is not the target of raging porkers, but for now— ] how are you going to fend for yourself with that, Stickleo?

[oneandmikleonly]

Is this really the time for puns?!

[don't tell Lailah he said that]

I can't call my weapon right now, all right? This is the best I can do.

[the boar takes that as a cue to rush; he does dodge and deal it a sidelong blow with the branch, but it's much bulkier and off-balance than he's used to. it doesn't quite take the animal out.]

Argh -- are your artes working right now?