( TDM #7 )

[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 Shehui.

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 ▢ Perhaps the signet in your chest isn't the most pressing matter right now. You notice that the building you're in (Chips!) is pretty large -- but even that isn't the most demanding thing capturing your interest right now. It's the video game you're in front of. Maybe it's Duck Hunt, or a zombie killing game that involves those huge red and blue guns. There are a variety of arcade games in Chips!, after all -- but are you Player 1 or Player 2? B ▢ After a strange incident a couple of days ago, the area around Anmung tower has been essentially dead. This may or may not be lucky for you -- since you're on the top of the observation deck, and all. If you're afraid of heights...oops. It's not that people aren't allowed to be up there, it's just that there aren't too many people. The view is still pretty good, though! C ▢ Let's say that you just want some answers and information about the strange signet you now have. You may find some success in asking around, but be warned: not everyone in Shehui will know what the fuck you're talking about. If you're lucky enough, you may eventually run into a coven member that will be able to explain. D ▢ Since your character didn't show up via any special means, they may not know that magic is a bit taboo in Shehui. If their new magic manifests, it might be a bit of an issue. Locals certainly won't like it, and they'll definitely attract the attention of more than a few monitors. The good news? This is also a pretty good way to snag the attention of a coven member who is here to help! E ▢ Let's get back to some fun stuff. Your character is enveloped in darkness for a brief moment, something clasped in their hand. Lights, camera, action -- the glowing screen that suddenly flashes on turns out to belong to a karaoke booth TV! You and and someone else have been locked in this booth for an hour -- at least there's a mini bar and some snacks! F ▢ For something not so fun, the snowfall has stopped in Shehui, except for those residences and businesses who want to keep paying for it. A lot aren't willing to cough up the credits, so it's safe to say the streets aren't. Everything is frosty and slippery, from melted snow to frozen water littering the sidewalks. Watch your step or you could hurt yourself...or bump into an unexceptional stranger! G ▢ Finally, you may have had the fortunate luck of ending up in the coven's apartment complex. There are names on the door to all apartments, if you want to go exploring. Whether you find the name of someone you recognize, or maybe you just want some shelter from the cold weather, knock knock...is anyone home? H ▢ Wildcard! How will your character react to this strange world?

GAME NAVIGATION

Comments

E!

[sunderings]

[ Fact: Sion Astal, King of Roland Empire, hails from a time of horse-drawn carriages and oil-lit lamps. Never before has he glimpsed any manmade innovation so specialized (or, if one were to give more consideration to the thought, so mundane) that it would display lyric of song and melodic beat upon a brightly colored screen, bars and text scrawling in endless progression as the music swells, the booth soon filled with his companion's voice.

"Staring blankly ahead just making my way... ♪"

Altogether, the song is uplifting. His boothmate's singing is not without passion. And yet--...

When the music ends, Sion shifts (politely) away, his fingers curling delicately about his companion's wrist to see it gently removed from his person. ]

It is good, to see someone so carefree.

[ Where the King cannot be, not truly, not anymore. And somehow yet, though he'd been silent for the duration of his first (and hopefully last) karaoke experience, Sion's voice is disarmingly gentle and warm when he speaks: ]

Do not lose that, it is your strength.

Re: E!

[unreasons]

[ Astolfo was able to keep up ith the song thanks to that energy. He's never heard tit before and only knows what a karaoke machine by virtue of having been to a similar era before. Thanks, Throne of Heroes, for helping your boy Astolfo out. He blinks at his companion as he feels fingers against him and he easily removes himself from Sion. He's got manners, after all. ]

Ehh. I've had some people tell me otherwise but I don't really listen to them. You just have to fill your life with what you enjoy. Anything else is a waste, don't you think?

[ Astolfo's voice is cheery, bright, and feminine which only adds to the the boy's androgynous appearance. ]

...I'm not sure how we ended up in the booth, though.

[sunderings]

[ Perhaps amused, Sion lofts a brow. ]

The individuals you've mentioned, were they here, might they have said something along the lines of—

[ Giving brief pause for the sake of theatrics, Sion takes to surveying the room, searching for any discernible exit, brow falling upon finding none. Still, this discovery (or rather lack-thereof) does not deter him from adopting the character of one bed-headed, paperwork-hating, grouse of a man: ]

—"Fool! What if it had been a trap, and you'd wasted your last moments in this world belting out some absurd tune?!"

[ ...or, at the very least, that's what Sion's own close companion might have said.

But ah, it is with an airy laugh and shake of head that the King returns to himself: a calm demeanor and fathomless golden eyes, a soft-touched aura of light limning from his skin. ]

But what they do not realize is that, if it had, indeed, been a trap, you still would have been singing in the end.

[ And for some, that is enough. ]

Will you tell me your name? I think I should like to be introduced to the one I am to be sequestered away with.

[unreasons]

[ Astolfo snorts and laughs at Sion's imitation of... someone. He's not quite sure who. ]

No one who would say anything like that. More like "Why are you wasting your time singing?"

[ Astolfo grins. Someone gets him! ]

Of course I would have! I'm Astolfo, one of the Twelve Paladins of Charlemagne!

[ He gives a flamboyant wave of his arm and bows, cloak fluttering a little as he does. ]

And who do I have the honor to be addressing?

[sunderings]

[ A pleasant sound, his companion's laugh—vivacious and bright, it is nothing which would have fallen upon his ears were he only stationed where he belonged: upon a warfront of his own design; his own making. And there is a part of him which suspects, yet, that the sights and sounds before him (technology and innovation, all manners of comforts and color) are an illusion crafted of their influence, intended to both imprison and placate at once.

He has been subdued, lead astray in such a manner before, but--...

Had he not freed himself from those very bonds? And what if there should be some lesson to be learned from both Astolfo's grin and vigor...? ]

Well met, Astolfo, Paladin of Charlemange. [ A fluid gesture sees the flat of Sion's palm placed over his heart, his head inclined in respect and in acknowledgement. For Sion, decorum is something ingrained, route, whether he realizes it or not. ] You rather remind me of someone I know.

[ No, not that grouse of a man who Sion had imitated before, but rather--... ]

Her name is Iris of House Eris, and despite her youth, she is more skilled than any other Kingsguard. [ Sion should know, after all. How many times had she taken him by surprise, taking it upon herself to pretend at being an assassin if only to keep him upon his toes? Each and every time, she had bested him in combat, and... Well, he'd always pleaded with her not to tell another soul. ] You two would be fast friends, I think. You share a liking for the same manner of dress, and perhaps favored color as well.

[ Pink. ]

I am Sion Astal, King— [ Well, the title makes excuse for those elaborate robes. ] —of Roland Empire, and it is my hope that we might be fast friends as well.

[unreasons]

[ Astolfo can be proper when he wants to be! He sketches a courtly bow, his cape fluttering around him. The effect is decidedly less dramatic since they're trapped in a karaoke booth together, but hey. It's something. ]

This Iris girl sounds like a fun person. And a noble knight on top of it! Especially if she likes cute things like me!

[ That is one beaming grin. Astolfo throws up a 'v' for victory briefly and then blinks. ]

Roland Empire? I didn't know he went and got himself a whole empire! When did he have time to do that?

[ Astolfo taps his chin, apparently lost in thought. ]

[sunderings]

Ah? [ The (outrageously) long fall of Sion's hair cascades down, over his shoulder, as he cants his head artfully to the side in gentle curiosity. ] Who is it that you've in mind?

[ Were he to be honest, Sion would admit that hope had been kindled within him in the instant he'd glimpsed recognition in Astolfo's eyes—could the paladin be of Menoris?—but it is a fleeting thing, there and gone no sooner than Astolfo continues on, speaking of a companion perhaps dear to him, but foreign to Sion himself, the King who knew precisely how he'd built Roland into an Empire spanning half of a continent.

(Still, the country of Roland is modeled after France!! Astolfo is not far off.) ]

I cannot say for certain whether or not I so happen to be acquainted with them, but--...

[ A nod of acknowledgment, a smile which matches Astolfo's own! ]

If you will speak of their deeds, I would be happy to listen.

[ The King would much prefer it to karaoke, at any rate. ]