( TDM | #2 )

[spellbindmods]

IMPORTANT: This TDM takes place on the current world the coven is part of. Please read the linked Google Doc about the world AND be aware that the world is high-frequency, meaning canon magic and powers can be used.

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.

WORLD ONE: AIMINTAS

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... Some of you might open your eyes to find yourself wandering around a sandy area, outside of a large stone house. There's a large glimmering caravan floating around outside, which might intrigue you. There's also a lot of supplies, food, clothing...all just laying around outside. It's worth investigating, right? A ▢ Your character has found themselves arriving right outside the coven's new digs in Aimintas, and there's a lot of confusing stuff to look at. Th ocean in the sky, that floating caravan...your character probably can't get to that ocean, so they may want to examine the caravan. If they touch it, they'll immediately regret that decision -- the caravan has its own defense mechanism, and you can pick one or the other: - A1: Once your character touches the caravan, they can't remove their appendage from it. Kick it? Their foot is stuck. Touch it? Their hand is stuck. Lick it? Their tongue is stuck. They'll remain like this for 15 minutes without magical intervention. - A2: Your character's hand doesn't stay for long, but the caravan holds onto that hand for five seconds while giving your character a pretty excruciating burn. Medic! B ▢ Maybe they're smart and they don't touch the caravan. Let's go through all of this cool stuff on the ground! It might be sort of obvious that it belongs to someone -- a lot of someone's -- but your character is thirsty, confused...maybe there's some water or answers in this pile. And maybe there's also someone who catches your character going through their shit.

Other new potential coven members will find themselves in a completely different part of town. These lucky individuals will have suddenly appeared in the marketplace area of Aimintas, surrounded by walking lizard beings that suddenly turn and take an immediate interest in this stranger. C ▢ The Palai are very interested in the new coven members, and a new humanoid person -- or anyone that doesn't look like them -- will immediately catch their attention. They'll immediately find your character worth of their undivided attention, talking to them about coven-related things...pretty confusing right? If you need help with the short lizard folk, maybe someone will eventually arrive to help you out. On the other hand, you might learn something interesting talking to them. A friend might join in either way! D ▢ Once you break free of the Palai, you'll find that this marketplace is pretty interesting. It's a mixture of primitive and semi-modern technology...or is it totally unfamiliar to you? Never seen a cellphone before? Unfamiliar with the concept of women wearing pants? There's certainly something to see that'll interest your character here. E ▢ Finally, you might be hungry and thirsty after suddenly appearing. The Palai are masters of making food, including a new concoction of theirs that they're trying out in honor of all the new people. It's a sort of bottled fruit juice that has been energized by the Eltos. It's essentially the first Aimintas Red Bull, except on acid. The drink immediately makes anyone who drinks it extremely giddy, hyper and they may potentially hallucinate. It doesn't seem to bother the Palai's biology, but everyone else...oops!

The setting found in Aimintas is pretty expansive, so you have a lot of room to wander around. Here are a few things that might catch your eye if you're really committed to wandering around. F ▢ A house near the marketplace is incredibly special to the Palai people. Characters who wander near here will find a group of Palai who are even more excited about their new visitors: baby Palai. Some are still in eggs and kept inside, but the juvenile Palai are about two feet tall, rowdy and want to play with these new, bipedal creatures. Some of them still crawl around on all fours and are more lizard-like than others. Hope you're good with kids! G ▢ The Palai have constructed a large library in the middle of town. If you wander in here, you'll find a myriad of books in a strange language. The Palai are a rather visual people, though, so many include pictures and illustrations. They also have a collection of computers here that connect to the Aimintas internet, as well as visual media stations that can play videos -- though they're really just powered tablets that play video files. Time to get a little taste of the Palai culture. H ▢ 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

caster of the nocturnal castle | fate/

[storyseller]

c: the tale of the unexpected bazaar

[It is like a summoning, and it fills her with regret. She does not want to be here. She does not want to be summoned to fight, die. The Caster draws into herself, looking around behind her veil, wary and uncertain of the enthusiastic creatures. She does not understand what they say, but quickly compiles information. With practiced expertise, she calculates in these creatures' words the path to avoid death.]

Allow me to show you my stories...

[She waves her staff, which is not required, but which is part of the theatre of storytelling. Solid creations of fantastical figures—griffons and lamia, djinn and golems—are summoned around her.]

Please choose one, and I will tell you its tale.

g: the tale of the amphibians' library

[Of course she is drawn to the library. Soon, she finds herself browsing the books, and realizing that she can't read the words. It's frustrating.

Caster glances over at the one near her, her eyes half-lidded. Before speaking, she assesses what kind of person she may address.

What are you like? How do you hold yourself in this library? This will determine how she approaches you.]

g

[baiter]

[Pica, meanwhile, is engrossed in a book of her own. It's a history book with detailed pictures of this planet's culture. Given by how fast she turns the pages, Pica can't read it either.

That, and-- her overall appearance is shabby. Pica's hair is messy, as though it hasn't been brushed for a while. Though the ground is hot, she walks barefoot. All the clothes she has on her is a t-shirt and shorts, both of which have seen better days. There's a belt with bags on her waist -- they seem to carry some weight since they jingle as Pica shifts from foot to foot.

All in all: she looks like some kinda runaway kid.]

[storyseller]

[Children are not always safe. Children can be dangerous, for after all, wasn't it a childlike heart that Shahryar possessed, to decide that infidelity could be answered by violence? Is not the tyrant's heart the heart of one who has not matured?

However—

That boy had a child's heart, which reached into adulthood. And there was a kindness to him. And this child seems to be interested in stories as well. Furthermore, while women are also capable of killing, a young girl can also be a beloved and brave little sister.]

Excuse me... I thought perhaps you may wish to look at the computers, for information we can understand.

library

[unvictory]

[Except she has no reason to size Boudica up before she addresses her, because they're companions of course! She leans closer to Caster to get a better look at the book, and while the images are helpful, it still leaves her a little lost.]

Hm...I wonder how hard it would be to piece this together without being able to read it?

[storyseller]

[Although Boudica is a 'King,' and therefore she brings Caster to some concern, that very trait that makes her wary of kings allows her to understand Boudica and assess her. While part of Caster remains afraid, she also understands that being with Boudica offers safety. She is a sovereign who protects.

As well, there is something of sister-ness in Boudica. It has been a long time since Caster has been able to experience such a thing. Perhaps, she no longer deserves the companionship of a sister, for it was a sister that she failed. And yet...]

We can discover some clues from the images regarding what kind of information the book provides, whether it is a history or a fable or a kind of treatise on scientific information. This can be confirmed by examining other books placed nearby on the shelf. With the understanding of genre assessed, we may extrapolate from the images major points which are chosen for illustration. While it is only the skeleton of a story, that may be enough for the knowledge to produce another night's tale.

c

[reachforthesky]

[there is a housecat-sized gold griffon who doesn't seem to be obeying like the other creations; she's nosing one of the larger griffons near Caster, actually, her plumed tail swishing back and forth, her wings flattened down very tight against her back, shivering.

(she seems to be trying to use it to hide from the Palai and the throng of other things and people. huh!)]

Um--um--a-any one? Th-this one?

[storyseller]

[She recognizes at once a creation that isn't her creation. Likewise, she recognizes the desire to hide. To her, it is the desire to avoid death. What is more appropriate than to obscure one's presence behind a 'story'?

Yet, a griffon can be dangerous, even one of such a size. It is the Simurgh—the bird that is thirty.]

In my language, that one is called the Simurgh, but this creation of mine is many times more slight than its true form. Would you like to hear the tale of the birds which sought to find the Simurgh and name it their king?

C

[arttoenchant]

[Was she intending to address the Palai? Because the other Caster butts right in.]

The gryphon!

[And he's just gonna sit himself down like it's kindergarten story time.]

[storyseller]

[Things Will has going for him: he is not a king. She watches him, but chooses to oblige. Perhaps he could not kill her. Even so, he is a man, and she is wary of how he may watch her. She would rather tell a story than be threatened by the gaze men often set on her.]

Very well. Because you are well-learned in the stories of Greece, I will instead tell you a story from Persia. In these stories, the gryphon is thought of as the creature called the Simurgh.

It is told, O playwright, that the advisor to Nowzar and great hero, Saam, who had chosen not to be king, was with his wife when she was giving birth. So it was that Saam saw his son as he was born, and saw him for his strangeness, in the deep pallor of his skin, the redness of his eyes, and the whiteness of his hair. These were the colors of the great and terrible demon, and so Saam was convinced his son was the child of demons, and named him Zal for his appearance. Saam knew he could not raise this boy, yet he could not kill him, so he took the infant to the mountain Alborz, the highest peak in the nation. Though the infant cried as he climbed, and climbed as he left, Saam left Zal there, forsaking his own son.

Yet the child's cries were heard by the tender-hearted Simurgh, who made Alborz her home. The Simurgh rescued the child, bringing him to her nest of monstrously large children. These chicks were as Zal's siblings, and the Simurgh his mother. Though they were great and he small, they were careful of him, and under their love he grew strong and wise. Yet the time came when he became a man, and yearned to meet those who were like him. The Simurgh grieved for parting with her beloved son, but in her wisdom, she understood that this was what he needed. To him she said, before he parted, "Take these three feathers of mine with you, s that you will always live under my protection, since I brought you up beneath my wings with my own children. If any trouble comes to you, if there is talk of good and ill, throw one of my feathers into the fire, and my glory will at once appear to you."

Upon returning to his kingdom, Zal met the beautiful Rudabeh, descendant of the demon king Zahhak, whose shoulders bore snakes that devoured his innocent people. Though she came from a demon's line, he was a king, and worthy. More than that, Zal and Rudabeh were in love. So they consulted the priests, who looked to the horoscopes, and prophesied of the child to come: a hero famed for all eternity, stronger than all before, who serves his nation well. No eagle would outsoar him, and no lord would be his equal; with his sword he will make the air weep, and his food will be roasted wild creatures spitted on a tree. Prompt in his monarch's service, bold in battle, their child would become Persia's protector and greatest warrior.

Under this auspicious sign, they were wed. Yet when the child was to be born, the labour was too great and terrible, and Rudabeh could not bring the child through, for he was too large and strong. Rudabeh fainted in her labour, and so Zal came to her, and wept in despair, sick at heart and with tears in his eyes at the prospect that he would love the woman he loved.

Then, he remembered the gift from that surrogate, the greatest and most wise of the birds. He brought the feather to the brazier that warmed the chamber, and threw it into the flames. Immediately, the air darkened, and the Simurgh appeared like pearls raining down from a dark cloud.

The Simurgh said to him, "Why are you sad, why are the lion's eyes wet with tears? A cub eager for fame will be born to you from this silver cypress; he will master all the beasts of earth and air, and terrify leopards, dragons and demons. On the battlefield, his voice will make the hardened hearts of warriors quake. When he throws his spear, it will soar at such lengths that miles will not be enough to count it. For so great a hero, his labour, too, will be anguished, and so he must be brought forth."

And so the Simurgh instructed Zal on what to do, calling for a man well-versed in spells and a glittering knife. The great, wise bird instructed Rudabeh to drink until she could not feel pain, and for Zal to turn away to not witness this. The child must be removed from her abdomen, and when it was set free, he must sew up the cut, and mix a salve of the Simurgh's instruction into the wound to see it healed. Finally, he must take a feather from the Simurgh and hold it to her body, for its shadow would give her strength.

Zal did as the wise bird told him, and both mother and child were saved. When at last Rudabeh came too, and looked upon her great child, she saw how she had escaped peril and pain. In Farsi, to escape is rastam, so she named the child Rostam, who would be the greatest of all heroes. And to this child was given the Simurgh's protection, for the clan of Zal was now, too, her clan.

[thirtybits]

[Like her, Judas doesn't understand a single word. He can't even read the lettering. And that's definitely frustrating, it makes him feel stupid, but he's not about to give up. Who knows how long they'll be here, he should make an effort to learn. At least this sink or swim style of learning isn't new to him...

Still, it's Judas, so as earnest as he is about it, the way he holds himself doesn't suggest much confidence.]

[storyseller]

[Judas you shy baby. Caster observes this, as well as his frustration. She does not know if he is one to be afraid of. Quietly, she speaks to him, asking,]

Forgive me... Are you one who understands how to use computers?

c

[gaching]

[There's a disturbance from the crowd. Someone is pushing their way through the lizards, and before long a redhead pops up with a beaming smile--]

Caster!

[?! Is she here to rescue her--?

Kinda. She points at a griffon.]

I want that one!

partly stolen from wikipedia because i got tired

[storyseller]

Master, if it pleases you, I would be glad to tell that tale.

[SHE'S GOING WESTERN FOR THIS because i'm running out of stories.]

It is related, O Master, that the king of a distant kingdom had a daughter who became ill. He consulted his prophets, who told him that she would be made well only by eating an apple. The king declared that whoever brought the apple to cure her would have her as his bride. Across the kingdom, many sought to win her hand. Among these was a peasant with three sons: the eldest, Uele, the middle son, Seame, and the youngest, Hans.

First, the peasant sent Uele with a basket of apples. Uele met on the road a little iron man, who asked him what was within the basket. Wary of the stranger's intentions, Uele answered "Frog's legs," and the little man said, "It is so." Uele continued onward, but when he reached the king, his basket did indeed contain frogs' legs. The king sent him away, and so the peasant turned to his second son.

On the road, Seame encountered the little iron man, who asked him what was within the basket. As wary as his elder brother, Seame answered, "Hogs' bristles," and the little man said, "It is so." As before, the son found that the basket contained what he had said on arriving before the king, and was driven back to his home.

The youngest son, Hans, was a fool, and begged to go as well as his brothers. At last, taking pity, the peasant allowed it. When Hans met the iron man, being a fool, he answered honestly, and said the basket contained apples that would cure the princess. The little man said, "It is so," and when Hans reached the castle and gave the apples to the princess, she was cured.

The king, however, refused to let them marry until he had a boat that traveled over dry land and sea. Hans went home and told his father. His father sent Uele to the forest to make such a ship; the iron man came to him and asked what he was making; when Uele said "Wooden bowls" that was what he made. Seame went second, and when asked, he answered that he was making chairs, and as with Uele, somehow he created what he said he would. When at last Hans went to build, he told the iron man that he was making a ship that would travel over land and sea. And so it is what he made.

Yet the king still wished to test Hans, so he set Hans to watch a hundred hares in a meadow all day. Hans did so, not losing any. The king sent a maid to beg one from him, for guests. Hans refused it, but said he would give one to the king's daughter. Then the iron man gave him a whistle that would summon any hare back. Hans gave the king's daughter a hare but then whistled it back.

The king sent Hans to fetch him a feather from the griffin's tail. On the way, a lord of a castle asked him to ask the griffin where was the lost key to his money chest; another lord, how their ill daughter could be cured; a giant, why he had to carry people over a lake. At the griffin's castle, he met the griffin's wife, who warned him that the griffin would eat him, but at night, he could pull out a feather, and then she would get the answers for him.

Hans did as she said, and when he pulled the feather, the griffin woke. The wife told him that a man had been there and gone away, but told her some stories first. She repeated them, and the griffin said that the key was in the wood house, under a log; that a toad had made a nest of the daughter's hair, but she would recover if they took the hair out; that the giant had only to put someone down in the middle of the lake and he would be free. Hans left and told the other lords what he had learned; they gave him rich treasures. When he reached the king, he claimed the griffin had given them. The king set out to get some, but he was the first man to reach the giant, who put him down in the lake, where he drowned.

And so Hans married the princess and became king

g

[bulletbiter]

[ The man next to her looks to be in his twenties, with pale skin and blond hair, eyes of clear grey focused on the book open in front of him. His clothes are formal and subdued in their intricacy; gold embroidery sewn onto the collar and naught else. A young man who conducts himself with quiet dignity - perhaps harmless in his demeanor, but there's definitely something that pings on Caster's kingdar.

If anything, he's not going to disturb her unless she speaks first. ]

[storyseller]

[oh no it's a king she fucked]

[While he is quiet in dignity, it is undeniable that this is a king's dignity. She becomes wary. Her instincts battle within her. To address him, or avoid him? she does not wish for harm.

Caster chooses to remain at a careful distance, but attempt to discern what book he reads, and how he interacts with it.]

c

[potentite]

[His eyes widen. That's so cool.]

Oh, um... that one? [He points at the lamia.]

c

[hylance]

[the array of fantastical magical creatures is impressive, and a story wouldn't exactly be out of place with so many curious eyes on them. but putting the onus of creating some form of entertainment on one person alone seems like too much to bear, and she can't help but wanting to confirm that it's alright.]

Are you sure that you don't mind? Perhaps someplace quieter would be better for a story.

g

[yancat]

[ Jumin stands in a secluded section of the library, perusing books in the hopes of finding a familiar word. Despite the stress and confusion that comes with being thrust into a completely different world, he carries himself with composure and dignity, moving from one time to the next without a change in posture or expression. His determined gaze says he won't rest until he finds an answer.

But... something tells him he won't find it here. He shuts the book in his hand. ]

I should have picked up Lithuanian.

G

[decipheringeye]

[ Well, how convenient for you! One table over, there's a human who seems to be reading the local books with no trouble. The stack next to her is in half a dozen different languages, and the one in front of her doesn't match any of those, but she seems totally undeterred. ]

c

[rosatre]

Eh? Oh. [Give Astolfo a second to consider the situation.] ...oooooooh.

[Okay, he's got it. And so he's going to consider the options. He's leaning towards the griffon.] Hmm.

[And then he's poking the golem with a finger, almost thoughtfully. (Almost because this is Astolfo! And thoughtfully is something that he is not capable of!)] Hmmm...!

[Okay, decision made.] I pick these two! [And then he points to the djinn and the lamia because can't he pick two at once? Wouldn't that just mean one story?] Oooor. Actually, the griffon reminds me of my hippogriff, a little...

[Okay, no, he's got it.] I pick these three! [POINT.] Ehehe. That's fine, right?

c

[usavatar]

[ Steve has only just escaped his own interrogation in another part of the market. He's in uniform, fresh from his face-off with Tony and the others. His shield is gone. His hands are still bound by the spider-kid's elastic whateveritis. He's not hallucinating, he's sure enough of his senses and has trained enough with Wanda to know it.

So, hands bound, uniform and height marking him out as much as his humanity, he walks through the market like he was born to be there. It's the commander's stride, the confidence of leading men across a battlefield unshaken. As much a weapon as a shield against his surroundings.

He doesn't know where he's going, but he'll be damned if he doesn't look like he knows.

Scheherazade catches his eye for three reasons. The first, the most obvious: that she's human. Possibly someone who can explain where they are and how they got here. The second: that trick with her staff, the figures around her, the offer to tell their stories. The third: she reminds him of Wanda.

It's hard to say how. The sleight of hand, sure, the magic, but it's something else. Something about the tone of her voice. The choice of words. He stops, studying her quietly for a moment before he says, ] What about your story?

[ It's a brash question, he knows, but he's in a brash mood. And he asks the question gently. ]

C

[lohengrins]

[ oh fuck it's the monarch

the creatures that manifest around her are not unknown to him -- his gaze shifts towards the woman's face instead. his expression is steely.

percival makes eye contact, his head held high. ]

I would like to hear the tale that is dearest to your heart.

c

[trustcoon]

[the magically materialized creatures are foreign and fascinating to the tiny foot-tall tanuki. a snake person! a cat...bird...thing! a rock! it runs curiously in and out between the figures, oohing and aahing at each before climbing on top of a golem and using its head as a perch.]

This one!

g

[eternai]

[... the moment she feels someone's eyes on her, BB turns around. She doesn't care about keeping it subtle. Her entire character is about dramatics and hamming it up! If it leads to a confrontation, it's another excuse to grandstand.

But this person... this person looks awfully familiar. In fact, BB recognizes her, which is somewhat of a relief.]

Huh. Scheherazade-san?

[SORRY SHE DOESN'T USE CLASS DESIGNATIONS!!]

You were brought here too?

g please forgive the shaky voice testing

[goodlistener]

[so many books...

that's decidedly the impression the blue-violet eyes of the young woman standing beside her give off, wide and amazed. she's almost spellbound as she glances over shelves and shelves of spines arranged in neat little rows. it's likely that even if she has noticed another servant in the vicinity, she's not commenting upon it yet—which could present still another indication of the sort of girl this holy, golden-haired ruler is.]

Ah— And they are freely available to everyone.

[the grail had given her knowledge before, to prepare her to read, but perhaps understanding the written word in a place like this is pushing the limits of that?]