( 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

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.

[storyseller]

[It isn't a question she expects. Caster recognizes royal blood when it is before her, yet this is not the dictate of one who is a 'sovereign.' It does not awaken her terror of kings.

Yet the girl speaks of storytelling in private. Caster's mind returns to a room it has never left: a sumptuous bedroom, with softest sheets and many pillows. A place to rest one's head—a room where one's head was always on the line, and threatened.

A story is no more safe in privacy than in public. Perhaps, even, that is a more dangerous place. But Caster is too frightened to defy even this, if it is a request. She does not want to die.]

This group... seems to wish for stories told in the manner of those oral tellers who offer tales in coffee houses and public squares. If, however, you desire a story told in privacy, then I will oblige.

[She does not meet the girl's eyes.

She doesn't want to die.]

[hylance]

[shaking her head to decline; and then offering what she hopes is a reassuring smile when she realizes that the woman isn't meeting her eye.]

Oh, no, there's no need for that. I only thought that you would be more comfortable telling stories someplace quieter. If this suits just fine then please don't move on my account. May I ask for a story as well?

[storyseller]

[She senses gentleness, but is not yet certain of trusting it. Yet, this is a girl, not a man, so...]

Certainly. What kind of story would you wish to hear?

[hylance]

I didn't have a particular one in mind. But if any of these creatures are ones that interact peacefully with humans, I'd be interested to hear it.

[she's curious to know if there are any that have the potential to be friendly. far too often they're enemies to fight; it isn't often that she has a chance to find something that won't try to kill them on sight.]

[storyseller]

Perhaps, then, I might tell you of the gryphon, called the Simurgh in this form, and the kindness it showed to a discarded child.

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.

[hylance]

[she listens with wide-eyed attention until the tale is complete before offering Caster a smile.]

That was lovely, thank you. For a moment I was worried it wouldn't have a happy ending. Is the Simurgh seen often in your country, or is it more of a legend?

[storyseller]

[The smile is a comfort in its way]

It is considered a legend—however, how might we determine what was real and what was invention in the ages long before us? Perhaps the Simurgh never existed, or perhaps she has merely left us with the departure of many of the world's great mysteries.

[hylance]

Stories like that tend to have a bit of truth to them, I find. Although it's hard to say how much if you don't have any monsters roaming the world in present times.

[storyseller]

There are certainly monsters in the world where we go. Even the Mother of Beasts, Tiamat, has been encountered, and fought back for the survival of humanity.

[hylance]

Mother of Beasts? I...see. I hope you're not doing any of that fighting.

[no offense Caster but you don't look like you should be in a fight]

[storyseller]

[NONE TAKEN SHE DOESN'T WANNA FIGHT ANYONE]

I am fortunate that my Master has chosen to allow me to serve at base rather than in direct battle.

[pls don't make her fight she hates it]