( 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

[rootbound]

Nooooo! I want to figure out more about this place before we take any stuff at all! Doesn't it even bother you that we were just brought here without any explanation?!

[his voice is rising, slowly sloping towards panic; he doesn't want to deal with this but it has to be dealt with, and Geir not being nearly as concerned isn't helping, at all]

[rootandbranch]

No? Wait-- Vern, it's fine, we can find out whatever you want. Calm down.

[his reaction starts matter-of-fact -- he's not very bothered, and answers as much to the question -- but quickly shifts as Vern's voice scales up and it becomes clear he's actually scared. there's no way Geir wouldn't respond to that. sets Vern (and the silver) down softly on the ground, though Vern may wobble a bit on his feet, and shoves his nose into Vern's chest again.]

Easy. Breathe for a minute and think about it. We're all right...

[rootbound]

[Geir's attention is steadying. the silver clinks to the dirt, Vern not paying it any mind; he plants both hands on the softer scales of Geir's nose, breathing deeply again and again. it's easier to deal with Geir actually listening, Geir the singular and enormous point of familiarity here. his tone is even again when he speaks, panic contained for now]

We're all right, but we don't know how we're here. Someone would have had to find us to take us anywhere, and as far as I know humans don't have the power to bridge the realms . . .

[rootandbranch]

[Geir's not paying attention to the supplies scattered on the ground any more either-- Vern is a much more important priority. rubs his nose against Vern's hands, inviting petting; it's hard for him to see Vern upset without the impulse to soothe him rising up.]

So it's... someone who isn't a human? That's fine. I know lots of people who aren't humans, and if it's not one of them, it's just a person we haven't met yet.

[rootbound]

[he pets him almost on reflex, warm hands on warm scales]

Aren't you at all worried it's your family--?

[rootandbranch]

Not really. What would worrying about it change if it was?

[purrs under his hands at the petting, tone pragmatic; it doesn't hurt that it's truly how he feels. he's pretty grounded about it.]

The worst that could happen is we'd have to fight them or run away. No one has showed up to fight, and we were already kind of running and hiding. So... there's no problem yet. Right?

[rootbound]

It'd make us more prepared?

[. . . not really, he knows. he can't fight a god. Geir might, but . . . his thoughts shy away from that.]

I suppose, though.

[rootandbranch]

[shifts his sprawl towards something more curled around Vern, hoarding him a little. there's suddenly a wall of dragon between Vern and the caravan.

Geir's life to this point has been very take-it-as-it-comes, and he can't really empathize with the anxiety Vern's feeling... but maybe distracting him will help?]

--I know! If you still want to find out more, we should start by exploring instead. I bet we can get a good view of what this place looks like if I fly around!

[rootbound]

[on the one hand, it feels like flying may make them an even bigger and more obvious target.

on the other hand, it's a lot harder for most things to reach Geir when he's off the ground.

on the other other hand, it's very, very, very hard to resist the siren call of flying a-dragonback, damn Geir for knowing his weaknesses]

Fffffffine.

[rootandbranch]

It'll be fine, Vern. C'mon--

[holds out his claws for Vern to climb into, to lift him up. he'd forgotten the silver, though he notes its sparkle briefly as Vern shifts over. oh, well... he can always come back and grab it if it's there later...

the air up high is cleaner. it's cleared their heads before. he's already looking up, ready to go as soon as Vern is settled.]

[rootbound]

[Geir's harness wasn't on him, left behind in their home, but Vern trusts Geir implicitly not to let him fall, and he wedges himself pretty well between the ridges on Geir's neck, patting his neck once]

I'm ready.

[rootandbranch]

[Geir's muscles bunch as he takes off, his powerful wingbeats spinning the sand around the caravan into little dust devils and scattering the supplies even further over the ground. the city tips to its side and recedes rapidly under his wings.

Geir takes a moment to enjoy the lift in his spirits that flying always gives him -- it's something he won't be able to enjoy if he ever takes back his name and reaches his full growth, after all, and he never expected to do so much more of it in his life. once the first pleasure of takeoff has ebbed, he's still craning his neck up rather than trying to learn more about the city, though. what is wrong with the sky?]

[rootbound]

[Vern gives an exhilarated whoop, worry unable to dampen the joy he always takes in flying with Geir, sharing the experience with him, the way the world falls into inconsequence below them and the power of Geir's body under his hands. eventually (not as fast) he does notice the oddity too, though]

. . . Geir, are those . . . fish up there?

[rootandbranch]

It's water. Like being under the sea again, but not...

[wings his way up there as best he can, then follows the watery division between land and sky, sticking his head up into it and snapping at the fish inside in bemusement. he doesn't rise high enough to submerge them in it, but he does drench Vern in droplets by accident.]

[rootbound]

[yelps and shakes himself off in a hard cat shiver, though hONESTLY HE'S A LITTLE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT GEIR SHOVING HIS HEAD IN THERE]

H-hey, hey...

[rootandbranch]

It's water, Vern! The sea is just in the sky for some reason!

[he seems really happy about it, actually...]

This is AMAZING.

[rootbound]

It's unnatural! I mean, yes, it is also amazing, but -- you can't fly through that, can you?

[he's really torn :( between being excited and being nervous :(]

[rootandbranch]

I bet I could, but I don't know if you could--

[torn too, though it's between "continue to fly along excitedly in deference to Vern drowning or whatever" and "throw himself headfirst into the water." he has to be careful of Vern's tiny squishy body, but--!]

[rootbound]

[plaintive]

Geir, I need to breathe.

[rootandbranch]

I know, that's what I'm saying!

[as plaintive as Vern; he's obviously not going to do anything that could get his summoner in trouble, but this is terrible and why can't he go? who designed human lungs, this is the worst]

[rootbound]

If--if you really want to go up there, you can--just put me down first?

[there are barely-restrained nerves behind his voice, though; he means it, he doesn't want to stop Geir from exploring, but he's afraid to lose sight of him in a strange place.]

[rootandbranch]

[that's certainly an unthinkable suggestion, and Geir says as much.]

Nooooo way. Not till we know where things are.

[tries one more time to snap a fish out of the water, this time succeeding in a shower of droplets, then wings down to a lazier, lower altitude above the city to circle.]

There! Take a look and see what you can see...

[rootbound]

[well, only one thing registers at first

okay, that's a lie, many things do, the glitter of the city and the dangerous crags and the bright layout, but the one thing that immediately matters, that makes his muscles tense, is the sheer amount of movement they can see coursing through the streets]

. . . crowded . . .

[rootandbranch]

[Geir's eyes are round with wonder. his reaction is a mirror opposite of Vern's instinctive hostility.]

There's so many people!

[rootbound]

I don't . . . recognize this city . . .

[tense now; terse]