( TDM | #6 )

[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.

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.

ou 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 jewelery inserted in the space above your chest. That certainly wasn't there before you opened your eyes. A ▢ THus hub island is getting pretty chilly, which means the forest that contains the large, dinner-plate sized spiders is very still and quiet. No spiders are out and about to jump your characters -- but they are underground, lying in wait. Sometimes the best way for characters to get accustomed to their magic is to trigger their fight or flight response. One wrong step in the forest and they'll find their foot through a spider's brushy trapdoor or putting a little too much pressure on it for their liking. Are you ready to see what your character is made of? B ▢ The recent surge of rain has caused a few marshy areas, be it in the forest or a hilly landscape. Some swampy ground is more aggravating than treacherous, but the opposite is also true. Your character is strolling along, trying to find their way and all of a sudden SCHLUMP! Their leg is sunk into the ground up to their nether regions. Struggle, and the rest of them might fall in too...! C ▢ While your character is trying to figure out where the fuck they are, they may come across something scuttling about through the forest. Don't panic -- it's simply a scanner pod doing its due diligence and scouting for resources...oh! And it just happened upon something interesting: your character! This scanner robot is curious to investigate and record your data. Is your character going to trust them to do their job, or will they be suspicious of this looming machine?

Here's the part where they finally locate something of use: the base camp. The murky, weathered location is a little distressed, and resource gathering is making coven members sparse. However, that doesn't mean helpful answers aren't only a step away. D ▢ One thing of note is that as they get closer to the base camp, characters will feel more and more of that strong, telepathic surge. Qri's caravan is sitting in the middle of the open area, which may explain the stronger magical signals. Traveling closer to this object, in particular, will cause that unfamiliar pang of intuition to feel that much stronger -- which also explains why their own thoughts are being broadcast recklessly to everyone else on the island. E ▢ Speaking of Qri's caravan, the floating "vehicle" currently has its trap door, hammerspace portal open. It's quite large and inviting, honestly. Want to get closer to Qri? Or maybe just take shelter from the few sprinkles that are still falling from the sky? Crawl on in! Just be warned: the door will close right behind your character, and that thing gets claustrophobic after a while. F ▢ Finally, since Brie is aware that a new world is approaching, she's gotten a little more weapon-obsessed. There are an assortment of weapons just laying all over the place, from swords to spears, from slingshots to...god, what even is that thing your character has never seen before. Whether they're curious about something and like to touch things that don't belong to them or Brie is trying to outfit them with a weapon that works for them, your character is now weaponized. What do??? 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

is it though...

[holloweyed]

Oh, so it is you.

[Now it's his turn to laugh while Reim is in the mud!! No, he tries to laugh, but some dirt falls into his mouth and he just winds up choking on it. Enjoy that he can't even do that right now.]

I assumed you would know to just use the sheathe, idiot.

at the moment yes

[allweather]

[Reim throws the cane piece at him, but he's Reim, so it lands like a foot in front of him and splashes more mud into his face instead.

So there.]

You're the idiot! Now we're both stuck in this revolting mess! Xerxes!!

[if he shouts more it will help more]

[holloweyed]

[Break was just about to speak after his horrible coughing fit, so his mouth is open once again when the thing splashes his face. It's ten times worse than the taste of just a few specs of dirt, so enjoy him gagging even more! Thanks! He's dead now!]

You haven't even explained how you're alive, Reim! So maybe you deserve this!

[He throws the sheathe end at his head without thinking, so now they've just exchanged the pieces uselessly.]

[allweather]

["Thanks! I hate it!" - Xerxes Break 2017

Despite being blind, Break's aim is way better than Reim's, so he gets beaned in the forehead with the end of the sheathe and exclaims in protest and pain. Ow... this is the worst day ever... He grabs the stupid piece so he has something to shake angrily, like a real old man over here.]

I told you that we'd talk about it later! Coddling your impatience isn't my job!

[hm.... isn't it tho...]

[holloweyed]

Well, now we're both stuck here! You have no excuse!

[Yes, tell him all of those fascinating details in this shitty mud hole. No, Break doesn't actually want that, so he is going to take up his sword and try to use it like a paddle so he can pull himself on over in Reim's direction.]

You haven't even tried to get up, you're just yelling at me!

[allweather]

[BREAK]

Don't do that with your sword! [MORON.... ah, he's still yelling. Well, he's in a bad mood now, so there?!]

Perhaps if you can catch up to me, I'll answer you!

[Yes... now, he will try to get out of the mud. He's only fallen once, he's probably got some kind of mysterious lead—]

[holloweyed]

[Oh, he shouldn't have said that. Now Break cares more about catching Reim than getting out of this mess, and he's not going to fall a third time on the way. That'd be ridiculous.

No, he'll just do more ridiculous looking things. He pulls his sword out of the ground to hold it as he just starts trying to swim in mud. He's kicking his feet and waving his arms, it's a whole thing. Reim can't have fallen too far from where he's started, so it's maybe a minute of this before he's reaching for his legs.]

You're too big to get very far, moron!

[allweather]

[Reim is stunned... if only their entire social circle could see Xerxes Break: Mud Swimmer now... He's too stunned to keep making an effort to move, so it's with a lot of hurried scrambling that he tries to get away from Break's horrible hands a moment later.

Do not kick the blind old man in the face, he tells himself. Fortunately, he is not doing that.]

What! What what what— [BAD?] This is underhanded! Let go of me at once!

[holloweyed]

No! I'm catching you, and I'm not letting go of you until you talk!

[He should have kicked the blind old man in the face, because now Break has pulled his leg close enough to secure two arms around it. He is now firmly attached. Remember when the goal was to get out of this? That was a good, hopeful time, lost forever.]

You tell me right now, Reim, or we'll sink here and die!

[allweather]

I don't think it's that deep.

[For example, he's still pretty much just sitting here. Also he's compelled on an innate, spiritual level to tell Break he's wrong on principle, so that has something to do with his reasonably calm reaction here.

And then he starts trying to shake him off his leg, however well that's going to work in mud with an old man's weight attached.]

Can't we just! Do this! Indoors!

[holloweyed]

What difference! Does! It make!

[Reim's just sitting there, and crawling all this way has pretty much pulled Break entirely out of the hole he fell in. This mud is very shallow in comparison. He's just laying here on his stomach, attached to a shaking leg, arguing a point that's going nowhere.

Give him a minute, he'll realize this. He narrows his eye and reluctantly removes an arm to sit up, still holding his leg in the other like he can still negotiate.]

You'll tell me as soon as we're inside.

[allweather]

I'll tell you as soon as I've scraped this mud off of my—everything!

[Remember when this was his original terms & conditions, but only Break had mud all over then? That was a great time. He sighs, weakly shaking his leg again just to get this over with so they can go inside. Come on...

He also pokes him with his piece of the cane. Let's go, old man.]

[holloweyed]

[Nooo, now this is going to take forever. Break complains about this internally like it isn't his own fault, but he releases his leg to take the piece and put the case back together. Rather than use it to stand up, he waits for Reim to do so first, then clutches at the end of his shirt while he drags himself to his feet.]

I hate you. [Lead him away from this hell.]

[allweather]

[This went so well right up until he still had to drag Break out of the mud, but now in the most annoying way possible! There's dignity yet left in his outfit to save - notably, do not stretch the threads - so after a moment of sputtering indignantly he reaches down to push Break away by his face. Do not touch him, awful man.

But okay let's get out of here.]

You started it.

[and here they go to the bathhouse and i stop writing about squishy mud]

[holloweyed]

[Pros of showering: cleanliness, time to calm down from that whole ordeal. Cons of showering: they can't put those filthy clothes back on for at least a day. Break spent maybe a few minutes longer than Reim stuck in his stall just staring at his chest, both at the gem and the ugly marking, before he finally made a decision.

Don't look at him awkwardly waddling out of the shower holding one of of a towel and pushing down on the other so it reveals nothing. Look away. He tried folding it so it'll stay put without help, but there really isn't anything there to keep it from falling.]

You are finding the laundry room. Now.

[allweather]

[Since Break dawdles, Reim has time to scope out and claim the only bathrobe he can find in this shit bathhouse, a crime against proper hygiene. But at least he's not soggy with mud anymore...

He's just loitering outside the stalls and frowning at their horrible muddy clothes until Break comes out, at which point Reim's critical raised eyebrow launches into orbit. This display? God.]

Of course. Come on. [To this laundry room that a) exists, and b) is conveniently close enough that they don't have to walk around like this for much longer. Look, he's not even commenting on Break's really, really mock-worthy towel arrangement.

So once they get to some clothes that aren't filthy, he figures it's time to Discuss this thing.] You really don't remember anything after that party...?

[holloweyed]

The party wasn't over when I arrived here. [After Break pulls some surely very ugly floral shirt over himself, he looks towards Reim with a raised brow of his own. It's an odd question, even if he's accustomed to knowing less than him at most times.]

I remember seeing you, and I remember... [Wanting to just uh, die, but he's not going... to say that. Instead:] What's on your face?

[allweather]

[Ah yes, he totally wanted to reminisce about the time he almost got mauled by a child (totally fair actually, but also scary) and then Break lost his mind. He remembers surprisingly little about how he managed to crawl all the way outside and around to the other side of Break's wild suicide mission, but he remembers that part.

He shakes his head at the shirt, for the record. Don't be ridiculous.]

A bandage. [it's probably gross now, actually... let him gingerly peel this off, the way i can't peel it off any of my icons.] I was hurt.

[holloweyed]

I know that. You were just lying there, and you didn't answer me.

[Well, it's all Break knows, so Reim's just going to have to deal with the fact he's still looking at him like he doesn't know how he can exist. This laundry room is much less dramatic than the midst of a murder party, at least. He has room to breathe and handle it.]

If you're awake, then you're... ahead of me. Are things... alright? [Surely he wouldn't be walking around if he weren't, but-] Are you alright?

[allweather]

[It's not as neat and tidy as a hasty explanation before he was sent back to Pandora, this laundry room... thing. Conversation. Trying to figure out what's going on while he keeps passing over horrible denim jackets and Break still hasn't put down that terrible shirt, despite his abrupt change in attitude.

Guilty. Once again, he can only feel guilty about just how many things went wrong at that party and the part he played in them. But first: are things alright.]

I'm fine. Things are... progressing. We were all about to take a little trip to see things through to the end.

[Whatever that is, but Barma trusts Oz so Reim also trusts Oz implicitly, etc. He's not pressed about the things that haven't happened yet any more than his usual background anxiety.]

[holloweyed]

[Well, that's enough comfort that he'll finally put the ugly shirt down. He's moved on to sweater vests, but he quickly dumps that in the pile of things Reim is more likely to wear.]

All of us? I'm surprised we've made it that far. [He's surprised he's still alive, really. Also that he hasn't had to kill Oz, but he's pretty sure Reim doesn't know about that little side objective, so he won't talk about it. His tone is getting lighter, like much more Usual attitude he puts on.] I should have known you wouldn't stay in bed and get in the way again.

[allweather]

[Sweater vests are a good modern invention, give him those... Anyway, does he have to list the body count and all the maybe-maybe-not betrayals right now? God, Break doesn't even know about Leo...

This was like a week ago? Truly, time is meaningless. He picks up a very sedate shirt with no patterns on it anywhere.]

I'll have you know, I've been helping... [He saved this old man's punk ass? Whatever!!] I can fill you in on all of the details some other time.

[notably, when they are dressed, one of those times,]

[holloweyed]

[Break doesn't know he was right about Elliot either, but that's probably something he'd never want to be corrected on. It can all wait. He pulls a sweatshirt on without waiting for Reim's approval, so now he's stuck with looking at his fantastic pattern.]

I'm sure it will be a riveting tale of you getting your paperwork in on time. [He hums, picking up a pair of clashing sweatpants and stepping away to go put them on in some corner. Whatever. He's going to be dressed, now.]

... I'm glad to see you.

1/2 because i need more faces shh

[allweather]

And yours, too. [He'll be over here, busily finding some nice slacks and maybe casually grabbing that sweater vest Break put aside, so he can go duck behind something and put on his very sedate professional outfit. He's muttering to himself about how it's probably a bad idea to put on clothes they just found lying around, but ignore him...

Anyway, while he's over there, mercifully turned away even though Break can't see the little smile on his face,] I'm sorry for worrying you. It worked out in the end, but...

[allweather]

[Ah, but now he comes back and sees Break's horrible outfit.]

Well, you're relaxed already.