( 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

[armigers]

[ All this guy's rigidness makes Noctis feel a little awkward, not exactly unused to that kind of behavior from the Crownsguard or the Kingsglaive but also not in the habit of adopting those mannerisms himself. By contrast, he has his shoulders curled a bit forward in a slight slouch while his fingers fidget with his pockets, feeling a little less than dignified at the moment. The layer of dirt and grime doesn't lend well to his image, but he tries to focus on the fact that there are more pressing concerns than his sloppy appearance at the moment. ]

Yeah, ran into a white-haired girl not too long ago. She did the same thing magic trick with the boar.

[ Which he still can't figure out but is sorely jealous of at the moment. He knows he shouldn't really complain, but considering they removed his powers, the least their kidnappers could give him is some boar-whispering powers in return. That would come in handy when hunger strikes, and he'll actually have to kill one of those. ]

There's probably more people out there. She said she was stuck here for two months already.

[ He doubts he's the only one who's a little cranky about that fact, especially when he'd been just about to board the boat to Altissia. It really does feel like every time he's on the way to see Luna, some other catastrophe emerges to delay his arrival even further. ]

[reckoner]

[ The circumstances don't lend to superficial judgment, and besides that, Gaelio cares even less than he takes note of the young man's unkempt and casual stance. And he takes very little note, the dirt of interest only as suggestive of experience. It could help that there had been a time, not so long ago, another life ago, that he had carried himself with as much disregard.

Though, unless leaning too close to another, his posture had always been better. ]

Magic trick?

[ A dumb echo. Presented matter-of-factly, but as inexplicable as the rest of this. If not a dream, then rooted in the throb in his skull, in the pressure that had seemed to build and focus through the words and images cycling through his head. The boar's behavior could not be explained, but to attribute it to magic he hasn't got? ...but might feel? ]

Hm... I don't know any tricks. [ A considering tilt to his head. ] No, there's one.

[ But he'd played the assistant, cut in half and left to be pieced together by another magician. ]

Do you?

[ A mild follow-up, though the tone had implied otherwise. And, on hearing two months, his features begin to harden. Eyes widen, only slightly, then narrow. ]

Did she explain more than that?

[armigers]

[ His mind flickers back to the conversation from earlier, only having spoken briefly to the lady. Between both his own and her combined reticence, idle chit-chat hadn't been a strong priority, and Noctis simply isn't in the habit of interrogating people for intel, either. That had always been a task left to someone else with greater aptitude for it -generally, Ignis, who isn't here right now clearly. ]

She mostly said to check out the letter they gave us... and she met with the people that brought us here. A coven? It's not as cool as it sounds.

[ Because clearly that would be the first point of focus for this stately gentleman. Come to think of it, he does resemble his friend and chamberlain more and more by the second, something that proves to be both odd and comforting at the same time. ]

They want us to join apparently.

[ The exact reasons why are beyond him at the moment when he doesn't necessarily trust a piece of paper let alone anyone behind their sudden kidnapping. He wishes he knew more himself, unable to stamp down the unease welling up inside of him, especially with no sign of a single familiar face nor a handy map. ]

[reckoner]

I don't have a letter.

[ At this rate, he will be reduced to monosyllabic repetition. The thought does not perturb, however little it suits a man whose position before death had been inspector, and after, less official but no less dedicated to rooting out the truth. If truth of a very different kind. Gaelio can see well enough that this is the sum of the truth, as far as this guy knows, and that he's doing his best.

In any case, if the young man brandishes a letter, or indicates he has got, he'll have to ask to see it.

But. Something flickers over his mouth, a lifting twitch at a corner. That in a situation like this, the word chosen was that... ]

Cool, hm. I thought covens were wicked.

[ Waking in a forest rather than the cold metal of a fleet's spaceship, encountering a wild boar that seemed to lose sight of him just after he'd hoped it might, and now informed of de facto imprisonment and witches. Not a dream? He hasn't got this much imagination, even in dreams. But it's all so absurd that his spike of focused frustration at the notion of stuck cedes, for the moment, to curiosity ]

And with an invitation like this, it doesn't sound like we have a choice. Did she tell you where they are?