( TDM | #5 )

[spellbindmods]

IMPORTANT: This TDM is something a little different -- it's a mix of 4th Wall shenanigans and test driving. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come and make this spooky experience even more creeptacular, and all threads are canon. Any weird happenings, magic shortages or flip-flopping for new characters will just be considered part of the strangeness of the night.

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.

The foreign moon has come as close to the hub island as it possibly can, and the nocturnal deer aren't the only things acting up at this point. Those with intact spiritual intuition or with the power of emotional understanding will have felt the heaviness in the air, and as the days have dragged on that thickness has only intensified. Tonight that thickness might be explained by the heavy fog that's settled in on the island. However, that doesn't mean it's all that's making the night unsettling. All across the island, spirits are taking shape. They're humanoid in nature and completely devoid of sound -- like holographic projections with the audio broken. They flashstep around at times, and other instances they'll walk around like a normal person. Their mouths move and yet no sound escapes. They tangibility is as erratic as their movements. In one moment they have control over their solid mass, despite being translucent, but other times they can walk through walls or pass right through flesh. Their clothes are indicative of a somewhat modern time period, and sometimes they're indistinguishable from other coven members outside of their blue, sepia-toned hue. Another inconsistency is that their demeanor and actions are as varied as any modern society's. Some of these spirits are confused and angry. Some are trying to go about life as best they can. One might be able to pick up a sword and swing it, while another might want to braid your hair. Ages, strengths, dispositions...they match the state of the person as they once were. But where do new, potential coven members come into this equation. A ▢ Some "new coven members" will come to the island as they are. That's your choice. Others, however, are also affected by the bizarreness of the moonlight. Unlike other spirits, characters affected by the moon will be able to talk, but everything else will match their new spirit friends -- from translucence to physical inconsistency. B ▢ No matter whether your character is spirit-y or 100% as they were, the spirits in question are still going to interact with them. For this prompt, they've run into a kind spirit. Whether this is a child spirit tying to round them up into a game of tag or an adult spirit who is trying to communicate with them in some way, this spirit will be neutral or welcoming to their presence, as well as to the presence of other coven members. C ▢ Other spirits may not be so friendly. While their demeanor will mirror the type of person they were when they were alive, the spirits run on very simple and exaggerated emotions. A person with a gruff demeanor in their life will exist as an aggravated spirit. A person with violent tendencies when alive will exhibit as a malevolent ghost. This is the type of spirit you happen to have encountered. How will this interaction turn out?

Brie's been pretty busy trying to fix the wild boar problem that the island has been having, which the results? It's hard to tell if they're paying off, yet. She's somehow smuggled out some Elto bones and tried to use them as something of an electric fence system around the boar-dense areas. The boars who are alive seem to be reacting well! Others, however, are not. D ▢ Dead boars are now waking up around the island, somehow affected by a combination of magic and the moon's spiritual awakening. Some are a little more like their alive cousins -- undead flesh still pretty much in place. Others are totally skeletal, roaming around and thrusting their tusks anywhere they please. E ▢ These boars and spirits happen to be attracted to several shrines located on the island. While the religious affiliations of these shrines are unknown and vastly differ from one another, the spirits seem to be drawn towards them. If your character happens to be exploring the island and finds one of these unique locations...good luck with that hoard of spirits and/or boar zombies. F ▢ Boar zombie tusks should be avoided at all costs, but there's also another threat they pose: their bite. Instead of turning characters into the undead, their bites or their saliva results in something of an instant poisoning. Characters touched by their mouths will die temporarily, just without the whole gaudy spectacle of death. Everything will stay exactly as normal, except they too will be turned spirited. This counts for new characters and old characters -- so if you don't want your character to go ghost, you should avoid their gnashing teeth at all costs.

Despite the creepy air the island holds right now, let's say you want to do something...normal. No boars, no spirits. Just some good ol' fashioned test driving. You have a few options, though they still may be tinged with the spirit of...spirits. G ▢ Despite the moon causing a lot of craziness on the island, there's a lot of beauty in how close it is. You can't reach out and touch it -- everyone would be dead and frozen to death, let's be honest -- but it does cast a lovely cool glow on the entirety of the island. The moonflowers are in full bloom, with the nocturnal deer dancing around through the foliage. There's a lot to see on the island that isn't necessarily overrun by spooky spirits. H ▢ There's also the issue of NPCs preparing for new characters -- which they did! There's the beginning of a welcome party set up, though it's obviously abandoned. With all the craziness going on, the base camp is thrown into chaos. If your character makes it here from wherever they spawned (or if they spawned here in the first place), they may be confused by the chaos. Asking questions might be good, especially since there's still so many to ask outside of dead people suddenly coming back from the grave. 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

[sharpestsword]

[ Good because she has got some questions. As she usually does. This time there's more urgency. There has to be something. She isn't about to start panicking but she doesn't like this situation at all. When he comes toward her, she reaches her hand out to him. Something solid to anchor her. ]

Where's Master Rustal? Am I... dead?

[reckoner]

I assume on the flagship. He isn't here.

[ Her second question, as much as the quiet need in her gesture, lifts his hand in turn. More, far more than any curiosity as to what if anything he might feel to brush against what looks to be transparent skin. ]

...I don't know. You shouldn't be.

[ Strange, what the thought of Julieta's death elicits in him. It begins in his gut and in his skull, a simultaneous unfurling of disquiet, darkening his eyes. Why? ]

[sharpestsword]

[ There's some relief, but also uncertainty. She can't follow him here so what is she to do? Yet she can't go back like this when she could be of no use. When her fingers curl around Gaelio's, there's just barely a moment of resistance before her hand slips right through. Her mouth opens as if to gasp. It's about what she expected, but not what she wanted. And she won't get used to how strange it feels. ]

Then what is this?

[reckoner]

[ Almost, almost. Not more than a second, hardly allowing the sensation of substance to take root. The shadow in his eyes spreads, creasing, dipping his mouth into a frown.

But he doesn't drop his hand. ]

I don't know. The spirits only just began appearing. Otherwise this is...

[ How to explain this succinctly? The word Fate flits through his mind, but staring at her, doubt flickers, his frown grows. ]

Somewhere else. The machinations of a so-called elevated mage. It'll be difficult to believe.

[ If not for that nettle of obligation, he wouldn't explain, disinterested in the effort. But he must owe her that much. ]

[sharpestsword]

[ She stares at her hand like there's something wrong with it. Of course it's her whole body that's that way. Frustrating as it was, it meant that it could be possible to hold her solid form. If only she could figure out how. This isn't the kind of problem she was prepared to think about.

As for everything else they're dealing with, she'll take her time coming to learn about and accept all that. ]

This isn't the first time I've had to adapt to a new way of life.

[reckoner]

[ Gaelio remembers well.

Galan Mossa before Rustal Elion. Given the life she likely lived with "the bearded gentleman," she might prove much more effective and competent here than Gaelio -- not that it would be difficult to accomplish that.

The realization of that does not sit as well as it should. It does more than he can reason in discongruent directions. Rather than solely noted as a matter-of-fact measure of utility, it eases an edge he had not understood to be raising. Rather than that alone, a lingering discontent.

She shouldn't have to adapt to this.

And is it not his fault? ]

...Yeah.

[ His pause stretched out. ]

There's a letter, but I don't have it on me. [ So he'll have to... try. ] We aren't on or near Earth. A so-called elevated mage, some creature they call Qri, has taken individuals from across different universes to save her life. Purportedly, all universes as well.

[sharpestsword]

I'll do whatever I have to.

[ It seems like it would be best to cooperate. At least for now. What exactly that entails, she'll have to find out. They can help each other. Having someone she trusts here means a lot to her, even if she is capable of fending for herself. Remembering that time before she joined the fleet stung a little but she'll let it drive her forward. If he can help her out with her current situation then she'll really owe him. She's starting to feel her shoulders be more at ease. No more fading or erratic teleporting when she moves even as she's still transparent. ]

[reckoner]

[ Adaptable, indeed. Julieta accepts a ridiculous introduction without any protest. It's almost impressive, if not another drop of disquiet in the overall portrait of what made her this way.

Well -- it might help that she's currently a semi-translucent spirit. ]

How agreeable.

[ Observed mildly, the shadow fleeting in his eyes. ]

But you might as well be. We haven't any choice. Her servants, taken some months before the first batches of our motley lot, claim that Qri is essential to the vitality and integrity of all worlds. We're to be dropped onto different planets to accumulate objects whose magic she can absorb, to sustain and revive herself.

Once she's well, she'll send us back. So they say.

[sharpestsword]

So that's how it is. If it was anyone else telling me this, I might not believe it.

[ Seeing all this for herself is really the only way to confirm. It sounds pretty serious. The reason for bringing them here may have been justified, but she's still angry about being taken away from her purpose. Even without a home or family to miss it doesn't make it any easier. ]

[reckoner]

[ A little surprising, that. Gaelio's brow shifts, raises, softens with the unexpected. Had Rustal Elion told her, surely she would accept it without question, and await his subsequent instruction.

But Vidar, only newly Gaelio Bauduin? ]

Should you believe it from me?

[ Absently, but-- ]

Though it's the only truth I know.

[sharpestsword]

I'm giving you a chance.

[ He agreed to try and help her so it's the least she can do. It gives her something to go on. That's all she needs for now as far as information. She can sort out the details as she comes to it. He was there last time she was on the verge of losing herself too. There's a sense of stability she finds within herself. She extends her hand once more, this time with confidence. ]

Whatever happens, we're in this together.