( TDM | #4 )

[spellbindmods]

IMPORTANT: The weekly update post will go up later than usual tonight to give time for any other barrier quest responses to come in. Nothing major will be affecting how old players respond to newbies on this post, so tag away! Threads here do count for September bonus AC for old players.

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.

IMPORTANT: This world is low-frequency. No canon powers or abilities are allowed! Also check out the setting information for more info about what the hub island looks like and what can be found there.

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. There's a lot to take in here -- you feel weird, your surroundings are weird. Everything is just weird. For starters, there's that new piece of jewelry inserted in the space above your chest. That certainly wasn't there before you opened your eyes. 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. If this new little signet catches their interest, fiddling with it will result in a bit of a neural vibration in everyone else with telepathy. Nothing painful; it's actually quite pleasant. But if they do decide to play with this new jewelry, they're likely to find some seasoned telepaths (aka old coven members) in their brain space, wondering that's up. A2 ▢ Alternatively, new coven members are notorious for being bad at telepathy from the jump. Their panicked reation to this journey or confused mental state may send out some network messages that maybe they didn't realize they were sending out. Or, maybe what's pushing them over the edge are all the other voices already doing exactly that in their brain. B ▢ Unlike the previous coven members who found themselves on the hub, new recruits won't find as many supplies randomly in the forest they're suddenly in. However, like old coven members, they will come across some wild boars that aren't too happy to see the humans have returned to their stomping ground. Your character may also come across a boar with babies in tow, which means that they're even more likely to be aggressive. If your character has useful magic within them somewhere, now may be a good time to discover how to use it...? C ▢ Whether you've braved a boar encounter or avoided one entirely, there's a lot to do and see in the forest, as well as other areas of the hub! Well, "do" is debatable. But! Coven members before them have discovered some pretty nifty locations that can be stumbled upon, from a phallic fertility shrine to tree homes and passageways.

If you eventually make it out of the forest and aren't devoured by a boar, you'll eventually come upon your new base camp. Someone (Genette) will be there with your introductory letter and a brief description of magic you now have. If you didn't discover it earlier...surprise! One thing of comfort might be that you aren't alone in this journey. There are other coven members here, fresh back from a journey to another world. If your character wants to get the lay of the land or understand what's going on a little better, they may want to hit up some of these folk for information. There's a large, gold, floating caravan hanging around next to a bonfire, and there's a back gate open that reveals something of a space pocket containing lots of different things. Luckily for new characters, the Palai from the previous world didn't want them to go hungry...which also means they'll be inundated with shrimp to eat. Hopefully they like shellfish! D ▢ Many of the old bloods in the coven can be found hanging around this area. Of course, a few of them have gone off on their own to do whatever it is they do, but since they just got back this is a good place to hang out if a new character wants to see a familiar face, ask questions or steal someone's belongings. You never know! E ▢ This will also be the place where they're given their first provisions. In a woven knapsack, they'll find a bag of cooked shrimp, a set of clothes (you pick the style) that may not fit, a toothbrush, and three other random objects -- dealer's choice! It's very likely that your character got something useful in there, but it's also likely you got something that your character would never use in a million years, or that doesn't fit. Time to start trading! F ▢ Finally, there's always the chance for your character to explore the big mansion next to the beach area. Actually, they may be asked to lend a hand. Everyone is tasked with unloading supplies from the caravan to the front foyer of the mansion, and there are quite a few trips to be mad. Or, alternatively, your character can slack off and play in the game room that they have. How good is your character at pool?

If you're much more of a loner and don't want to follow the flow of things, there are of course other locations that you should probably check out. Travel to your heart's content and find something new...but there are two other points of interest you may want to discover. G ▢ There's that bathhouse that's nearby, for starters. Your character won't encounter any snapping crabs, like last time, though the water for some reason isn't as hot as it once was. Whatever was previously heating the bathhouse seems to have died out, so there aren't any steamy, comfortable pools to take a dip in. There are, however, acrid waters with pond scum floating on the surface. The showers also spew out a greenish liquid, so any hope your character had at having a relaxing bath is gone. However, the lack of heat and many closed off rooms can make for some nice alone time. H ▢ Your character may want to claim a beach house while they're at it. Some characters have disappeared from the coven over time, and some of these few may have left their belongings before departing. This makes it hard to tell what huts are free and which need to be cleared out. Might as well play roulette and see if you picked one that doesn't have an owner or not. (For the sake of the prompt, you might want to choose the former, just saying). I ▢ 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

[rootandbranch]

[Geir shakes his head with a snort; odd, he's gotten used enough to the coven's telepathy in the last couple of months that he didn't even think of how strange it would seem to a brand-new stranger this time.]

It's not a dragon thing at all. It's from Qri! Check your chest under your shirt, you'll have one too.

[it's more like his collarbone, but whatever, human anatomy. Geir's over it.]

Sorry. It's really weird, but I have to say it's convenient.

[he follows Edward's glance, though, and he's distracted by the glint of sunlight on metal through the tears in Ed's pants. what in the world...?]

--are you wearing armor under your clothes?

[equivalence]

[Edward glances down. He should have one what? Though as he feels along his chest.]

What the...

[All right. Disturbing. Not a fan of that. At all. Before he can really get wound up about it, that question distracts him and he looks down at his own leg before back up to the dragon?]

What? Oh no, it's automail. [He reaches down to pull the pant leg up enough to show that it's not armor, it's an entire limb made of metal.]

[rootandbranch]

Auto-what?

[--oh. now that Edward is showing him what's actually going on there, Geir's thought process comes to a halt for a moment -- he's never seen anything like it, even in the halls of the dwarves. it really hammers home how varied all of the worlds they're from are... Ed's leg looks nothing like dwarven make. it's not even gold.]

Well, that's different. I'm glad you're not hurt.

[equivalence]

[Edward lets his pant leg drop down, nudging at it with his boot to make sure it's in place. He looks back over to the dragon, ducking his head.]

Yeah, thanks again for that by the way.

[Taking care of the boar and all.] I'm usually better at looking out for myself. But my alchemy isn't working. [It threw him off pretty badly.]

[rootandbranch]

It's no problem! I'm better off than a lot of people on this world-- most of my powers don't work either, but at least my body is still normal, so I can fly and fight.

[Geir huffs in remembered grievance. the eitr in his fangs is partly magical, not physical; the fact he can't bite down on nearly anything and have it melt and char away at the touch of his teeth any more has thrown him off more than he likes to admit. most living things would still be extremely unhappy if he bit them -- that's not going to change any time soon -- but he can't gnaw through rock any more, and there's a certain reassurance to knowing that your teeth will go through rock.]

You're another alchemist, huh? If it works anything like the others', you probably won't be able to use it here. This world is "low frequency."

[equivalence]

At least they left you that. It doesn't make sense that the world itself dampens alchemy though...

[Magic. Whatever. Who knows the rules for that, because as far as Ed is concerned it's a fairytale thing. ...and he's talking to a dragon and maybe he should realize that cognitive dissonance, but he isn't. At the moment.]

Another alchemist though, you've met others around here?

[rootandbranch]

You, Alphonse, and that little girl, Cagliostro! I haven't seen what she does yet, but she seems like she knows her stuff.

[it's a short list, but it's not like he's met so many people in the coven that they don't stand out.]

You'll have to get Genette to explain to you about the frequencies -- I can feel what she means, but I don't really get it. Power just can't flow into some places. I never thought anything like that existed either!

[and he's kind of mad about it, but that's neither here nor there -- his annoyed tone conveys that quite effectively without him needing to say another word about it.]

[equivalence]

Alphonse. [Alphonse who is also an alchemist.] Alphonse Elric?

[Because Edward is perking up at the mention of that name. He has no idea who the hell Genette is, but he files that away for now.]

That's my brother. You've met him?

[Where is he. Is he okay?]

[rootandbranch]

If he's got a surname, I don't think he told me. What does he look like?

[Geir examines Edward with fresh interest, now that he might be connected to the alchemist he knows and likes already. he doesn't see any particular similarity, but then again, no one could ever see much similarity between Geir and his brother. who is a wolf.]

I have no idea if Alphonse is a common name where you're from or not... he's a little bigger than you? Good listener?

[turns out the things Geir notices about a person aren't super useful for classification, oops. Alphonse isn't absurdly tall for a dragon. he's on the tall side of tiny.]